Shinigami's Revenge
by DistanceMaster
Summary: What is Raito wasn't Kira, but L still suspected him? What will L discover about the hurting teenager? LxRaito.
1. Prologue

**Warning: mention of rape.**

**The name comes from the song 'Fallen Empires' by Snow Patrol**

Fallen Empires

Prologue

_Raito could feel the blood dripping down his legs, wetting the insides of his jeans. More blood ran down his lower back from the two English letters that had been carved into the skin. His ripped shirt lay in tatters at his feet along with his backpack and belt. A pool of blood surrounded him like a lake. One hand rested on the wall for support as he shivered like he never had before._

'_Fuck,' he thought. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck. I got fucked.'_

_He started to cough harshly, his entire body shaking wildly. His legs almost gave out, but he managed to keep himself upright, taking a small, tentative step. Pain shot up his spine and Raito cringed, moaning lightly. Gritting his teeth, the teenager took another step and then another. It took him a few minutes to reach the end of the alley and, when he got to the street, he was glad to see that it was empty. _

_The entire walk home was pain, each step charged with fire that raced through his body, out of control. Reaching the front door, Raito silently turned the knob and slipped inside. The house was dark and quiet, which relieved the teenager more than anything. His mother and sister were in bed, sleeping. _

_Slowly, Raito made his way up the steps to his bedroom, trying to hold back the screams of pain that he so desperately wanted to let loose. They came out as grunts that kept time with his steps. As he walked into the bathroom, Raito knelt down, his back and ass aching. Rifling through the cabinet below the sink, he finally found what he was looking for: gauze and a hand cloth. _

_He silently closed the door and set the hand cloth in the sink, turning on the sink to the lightest setting. Pulling down his pants, Raito turned around so his back was to the mirror, looking back to examine the damage. Two letters, D and N, were engraved in his back, streams of blood trickling down from the open wounds. On the back and inside of his thighs, thick clots of the red liquid covered the shaking skin. _

_Grimacing, Raito grabbed the wet cloth and set it against the carving on his back. He hissed in pain, but kept pressing the cloth firmly against his skin. Carefully wiping away the blood, the teenager set the towel back in the sink, watching as the blood was washed down the drain. When his back was clean, Raito cautiously wrapped his body in bandages. Next, he cleaned the blood from his legs and ass, hissing in pain when he tried to tidy his passage. He fought through the pain, gritting his teeth as his towel-covered finger slipped in, slowly rubbing away the blood and semen. Running the towel under the water for a final time, Raito threw the now blood-free cloth into the hamper._

_Dragging himself back to his room, Raito shut the door behind him and quickly changed into a new pair of boxers and silk pajamas. He threw the bloodied pants into his closet, hiding them in his tennis bag._

'_I'll throw them away tomorrow in a dumpster,' Raito thought as he crawled into bed. _

_Moaning, he lay down and closed his eyes. Images danced behind his eyelids, bringing tears to his eyes. He shivered as he curled up into a tight ball, trying as hard as possible to keep from crying._

"_Raito," a voice said from above him._

_The teenager frowned and turned his head to look up. His eyes widened and, if not for the pain that wracked his entire body, he would have scrambled away from the monster that hovered above his head. The dark demon floated down towards him, reaching out to touch his cheek with its clawed hand._

"_I'm Ryuk, a shinigami," the demon said, smiling._

"_W-Wha-"_

"_Don't worry. I'm here to help you," Ryuk cried, seeing how terrified the boy was. "Don't speak, please. I'm sorry for scaring you, especially after what you just went through."_

"_What do you want with me?" the frightened Raito asked._

"_Do you know who did this to you?" Ryuk asked._

_Nodding, Raito started to cry softly._

"_Do you want revenge?"_

_Raito looked up, frowning heavily. Smiling down at the boy, Ryuk reached behind his back and pulled out a large scythe. He turned the weapon to show Raito the handle. Engraved into the wood was two words: R. Yagami._

**A/N: Before anyone asks, Raito will NOT have the Death Note, but a very different power.**


	2. Chapter 1

**By the way, this is going to be fairly different from the original story as I'm starting it over with a completely different base. This means that the meeting between Raito and L will be different. Chief Yagami might even be different. I'm not quite sure yet.**

Chapter 1

L chewed on his thumb, his entire body and soul focused on the screen in front of him. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his other hand rested on the built-in mouse on his laptop. He was watching a replay of something his security cameras had picked up only a few minutes earlier, drawing all of his attention. Every time the two second clip ended, he would restart it, his eyes following the brunette teenager as he walked through the lobby of the building.

"Raito Yagami," the great detective murmured, saying the name as 'Light' due to his English background. "What are you hiding?"

The door behind him opened, but L didn't turn to see who he is. There was only one man who dared to enter this room: Watari.

"They're waiting for you," the Englishman said.

"I'll be right there."

Watari closed the door as L continued to replay the clip again and again. L had never seen the Yagami child, if he could be called that, before his entrance into the building that housed L's headquarters, but he instantly could tell that there was something wrong with Raito Yagami. Sure, he'd received a file about the teenager, but the reality hadn't fully struck L until he'd actually seen Raito. The teen carried himself with a confidant stance and gait, his strides long. His hair was perfect. His clothes were perfect. Everything was perfect, or at least it was made to appear to be. L knew that there was something dark and sinister about Raito Yagami. He just wasn't fully sure what it was.

Finally, the detective stood up and left the room, shuffling towards the place he was to meet Chief Yagami and his son. When he entered the room, he found the older man sitting on the couch, Raito standing beside him. The brunette's eyes slowly shifted to L as the detective sat down on the chair opposite the couch. L met the gaze coldly, searching for anything in Raito's. However, as he knew, he found nothing, but the swirling darkness that everyone else dismissed as the knowing gaze of someone with great intellect.

"Ryuuzaki-san, this is my son, Raito," Chief Yagami said, motioning to his son.

Raito bowed slightly to L, his appearance unwilling to give away any of his thoughts or emotions.

"Nice to meet you, Raito," L said.

"And you Ryuuzaki-san," was the teenager's reply. "Father said you wanted my opinion on something."

'Father? He uses such a formal tone for a modern teen,' L thought as he nodded.

"I'm working on a case, a high profile one. You've heard of Kira, yes?"

Raito nodded, his stomach knotting. He kept his facial expression calm despite the fear that rose in him after hearing the name.

"You're working on the Kira case? I don't mean to be rude, but I don't see why you would need my opinion on something as horrible as that," the teen said.

"Chief Yagami said that you've helped him with other murder cases before. Just think of this one as a... new challenge," L replied.

He could see a faint light growing in Raito's eyes, though it was impossible for him to accurately discern what emotion to was.

"I've always enjoyed challenges," Raito said quietly.

"Then, offer us a helping hand. If nothing comes of it, at least it has been tried."

Raito nodded in agreement and glanced over at his father. L took note of the exchange as the Chief motioned to the coffee table between him and L. A pile of files lay on the table, waiting to be read. Taking a seat on the floor, Raito opened the first one. L was impressed by how quickly the brunette worked, although not at all surprised. He'd seen copies of Raito's scores, grades, and even some material written by the prodigy. The boy was at his level of intelligence, something that L rarely came across.

Closing the first file, Raito sat back on his heels, thinking. L watched the brunette carefully.

'There's a 40 percent chance of him being Kira,' the detective thought. 'He's got the intelligence and the cold confidence that one would need to commit Kira's crimes. With his father being a police office, a strong sense of justice, no matter how twisted, would be practically bred into him. He'd have easy access to files on past cases and, best of all, no one would suspect him. The son of a high-ranking homicide investigator could never possibly be a serial killer.'

"He's intelligent," Raito finally said as he was going through the third file.

"Already knew that."

"He knows what he's doing."

"Obviously."

"He's not your typical serial killer."

"Again-"

"-He's not the loner type."

This conjecture surprised L. His gaze narrowed slightly as he stared at the brunette, whose eyes were still focused on the notes in front of him. Pulling his legs up to his chest, L lay his hands on top of his knees, staring at Raito over his knuckles.

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at the people he has killed. They all have a violent criminal background. That's a pretty strange MO. Usually, the targets are young women or boys, not hardened criminals."

'The percentage is rising,' L thought as the teenager continued.

"He kills for the thrill, the power, just like any other, but he almost seems to be trying to make it justifiable by killing those who society abhors, like he knows he has to be able to explain it to someone close to him without sounding crazy," Raito explained.

L was never wrong when he made a judgment. They came from deep within the trained detective's brain and soul, a perfect mixture of logic and gut feeling. It didn't take L very long to make a judgment about the brunette teenager: this boy, Raito Yagami, had to be Kira. No, he was Kira. There was not a doubt in L's mind.

At the same time, he couldn't hand Raito over to the police without evidence: strong evidence. If anyone on the force discovered L's suspicions, no matter how remote or innocent he could try to make them seem, the police would jump on him at moment's notice. Taking care of their own kind was strong in police families and L knew that the branches of those family trees extended far beyond biology.

"If Kira is not a loner, then what does that mean?" L asked, testing the teenager.

"He has someone that he cares about, someone who's opinion matters a great deal. My guess is either family or a close friend," Raito replied.

'Interesting. Very interesting,' L thought as he nodded in agreement.

"I can see where you're going with this. It's a fascinating insight."

"Thank you."

"So, Ryuuzaki-san, what do you think?" Chief Yagami asked.

L gave Raito an emotionless glance.

"He'll be working with us from now on."

When Raito got back to his bedroom that night, he collapsed onto the bed. Both his mind and body were exhausted, having been driven in ways that Raito had never known he was capable of. Ryuuzaki was one of the few people the brunette had ever met that was able to push his mind to the limits.

Groaning, the teenager flipped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He was tempted to lock his bedroom door and take the scythe out from where it lay in a small hidden space under the floorboards, but he resisted the temptation. Tonight was not the night to take out the invisible weapon to and go hunting. He had other things to think about.

He'd seen the looks Ryuuzaki had given him; they said that he knew something was wrong. It was clear to Raito that Ryuuzaki suspected him of something, perhaps even of being Kira. The thought unnerved him somewhat, but he quickly pushed the emotion away.

Scoffing at how ridiculous the thought was, Raito rolled off of his bed and strode over to his closet. He pulled out a dark t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, folding them carefully over one arm. Making his way to the bathroom, the teen set the clothing on the counter before shutting the door behind him. As he started to run a shower, Raito slowly pulled off his clothes, letting them fall to the floor. The room was freezing, but Raito didn't care. He'd started to like cold showers.

Stepping into the shower, the brunette grabbed the shampoo, squirting some onto his palm. He ran his finger through his chestnut hair, carefully massaging the scalp. Tipping his head back slightly, Raito cringed as the ice cold water ran over his hair and down his back, passing the still very apparent scars. Raito reached behind him and ran his hand over the letters, an uneasy frown settling on his handsome face.

Quickly picking up the body wash, Raito cleaned his body as cautiously as he that had horrid night a year earlier. It had become a habit for him to be slow and methodical about the cleansing of his once-ravaged body and he actually took great comfort in it. One more clean shower meant one more day had passed since the rape.

"Raito! I need to use the bathroom!" Sayu shouted, banging on the door.

"Hang on a second!" Raito called back as he turned off the water.

He stepped out and quickly dried his body, tossing his clothes from the day into the hamper. Ignoring his hair entirely, the teenager changed into his pajamas, water dripping from his bangs. Grabbing a towel, Raito opened the door for his sister, who dashed into the room. She shouted a quick 'thank you brother' before slamming the door behind him as he left. With a soft sigh, Raito went back to his room. He was almost there when he heard the heavy footsteps coming down the hall.

"Good evening, Father," Raito said as his father approached.

"You did well today," Chief Yagami said coldly.

"I hope that I impressed you, Father," Raito replied.

"Hai, you did, but I don't want you fucking this up. Your reputation –my reputation- are on the line. Don't forget it," the stern man said.

Raito nodded, understanding completely. The teenager, despite fearing his father's fists, loved the man more than anyone else in the world apart from his mother and sister. His father was a terror when he was drunk and Raito had more than his fair share of those nights, but he had many good memories of his father as well. They'd done a lot together when he was young. That had slackened as the prodigy had gotten older, but, even now, they would play the occasional game of tennis, though Raito always won. He also knew his father to be just as proud as he was. It was one of their few shared traits.

"Good. Now, sleep well son," the Chief said as he walked back towards his bedroom.

Slipping into his bedroom, Raito closed the door and sat down on the bed, slowly drying his hair. His mind wandered back to the Kira case. Ryuuzaki was an unforeseen issue, but Raito had confidence that he could outmaneuver the strange man. Chess had always been his favorite board game and he knew that he was the Queen and Ryuuzaki was the pawn. While Raito could move in any way he pleased, Ryuuzaki could only take one or two steps at a time. He needed the evidence that Raito didn't.

As well, the brunette teenager knew one important fact that Ryuuzaki didn't: he knew who Kira was. The only problem was finding him.

When his hair was dry, Raito lay back down on the sheets, staring up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, but the feeling of invisible hands moving down his back shook him awake again. Sighing, the brunette stared upwards for a long time after. He could tell that it was going to be a long night.

'Tomorrow,' he though. 'Tomorrow, I'll go on the hunt.'

**So, what do you think? Like? Dislike? Thank you to everyone who is following this story with interest. This is my first Death Note fan fiction and I hope that the readers enjoy it.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: There is some creepy, stalkerish stuff in the second half of this chapter. Unhealthy obsession, fatal attraction, whatever you want to call it. This story is rated M for a reason.**

Chapter 2

The following night, Raito easily snuck out of the house. It was past midnight and the moon was nowhere to be seen. His scythe, which was invisible to every human except him, was in his hand, the blade gleaming. Raito's eyes scanned the dark streets as he searched for his first prey of the night.

His ears picked up the sound of sirens. Quickly changing direction, the brunette jogged towards the sound, finding a house on fire a few blocks away. The smoke was thick as it pillowed out of the windows, flames licking at its heels. Neighbors were scattered in the street out front, watching as emergency crews tried to salvage the building.

Raito could see words of death written in the flames. As he cut through the backyards of the homes next to the burning one, he listened carefully. Songs of death filled his ears as he got closer, driving him forward. He slipped into the house through the back door, the flames not daring to touch him.

Making his way through the rooms, Raito found the first victim lying under a fallen beam in the kitchen. He was coughing up blood, the beat having crushed his stomach. His dark eyes turned up to look at the teenager that stood over him and reached up for him.

Raito knelt down next to the man and laid his hand over the dark, pleading eyes. He felt the eyelashes brush against his palm as the eyes fluttered closed. Raising the scythe, he set the invisible blade against the man's neck.

"Death comes swift to those who are lucky," Raito murmured as he jerked the scythe through the man's neck.

The man's body relaxed in death. Raito sat back for a moment, studying the man. He would never get used to the look of a dead body, especially one that he himself had sent to death. It was his job as a shinigami to kill those who were already dying, to usher them to the afterlife. There was no blood or pain when Ratio killed, only a clean descent into darkness, but it still unnerved him. After all, his invisible scythe didn't cut through flesh, but rather the strings that tied a soul to its body. To most, it would almost seem unnatural to have such a powerful tool.

Raito stood and carried on, walking further into the house. He could sense two others, though only one was calling for him. She, the wife, was in her bedroom, the flames burning her skin. The teen made a quick death of her as well before walking down the hall to one of the smaller bedrooms.

A small girl sat in the corner of the room, screaming. She clutched a stuffed animal to her chest, his face and clothes covered in soot. The fire had managed to encircle her, trapping her in the corner. When Raito came into the room, her terrified gaze turned to him. She was too afraid to even ask for help.

Walking through the fire, Raito bent down, picking her up in his arms. She clung to him as he quickly left the room, jogging down the crumbling stairs. Pieces of the ceiling fell behind him as he walked. The girl buried her face in the crook on his neck, crying loudly. As they approached the front door, which was alight with fire, the girl started to wiggle and scream in his arms. He shushed her and set her down on the floor, pushing against her back. She tried to fight him, but he leaned down, his hands gripping her shoulders protectively.

"It's alright. The fire won't hurt you. Just run through," Raito whispered in her ear.

The girl looked back at him, eyes wide.

"You won't get hurt. I promise. The fire won't get you."

Shaking violently, the girl glanced back at the door. The stuffed animal was still clutched to her chest. Suddenly, she dashed away from Raito, bursting through the flames. The moment she stepped out onto the front porch, the frame of the door collapsed behind her. Raito smiled as he turned away, walking quickly in the direction from which he'd come.

"Death waits for those who are lucky."

In a house on the other side of the city, Takeshi Inoue was sitting on his bed, staring at the corkboard that hung above one end of it. His eyes were glued to the pictures that were tacked there. His gaze was soft, but his mouth was curled into a horrible grin. In his hands wrested a small black book, which he flipped over in his hands repeatedly. On one cover, the words 'Death Note' were written.

He was tall for someone of Japanese descent, his hair as black as coal. His eyes, which were too wise and too knowledgeable for his own good, were a shade of dark brown and dotted lightly with flecks of gold. He wore a plain t-shirt and a pair of pants, his feet bare.

Sitting up on his knees, Takeshi crawled over to the corkboard. He sat back on his heels again and reached up, running his hand over one of the pictures. His grin widened as he leaned forward to kiss the picture, his tongue darting out. When he tasted ink and paper, Takeshi pulled back, scowling.

"You're rather obsessed, aren't you?" Ryuk asked from where he floated behind the teenager.

"Of course I am," Takeshi replied, pressing his body flat against the wall, his mouth hovering over the picture.

"Why?" the shinigami asked.

"You know how much you love apples?" Takeshi murmured.

Ryuk nodded as he watched the teenager ground his hard arousal against the wall. Takeshi threw his head back and moaned loudly, his fingers spreading along the wallpaper. He continued to rock and grind, his groans growing louder. As he came in his pants, Takeshi lowered his chin, staring back at the picture. He raised his hand to caress the photo as he kissed it again, licking at the image. Ryuk looked away, sickened by the sight.

"There are things in this world more beautiful and wonderful than apples," Takeshi panted.

"I don't see how that is possible," Ryuk replied, still averting his eyes.

"It's more than possible," Takeshi laughed.

He plucked the picture from the tack that held it to the corkboard, sitting down again. Crossing his legs, Takeshi gazed upon the photo with loving eyes.

"Oh, how I wish I could be in that tight ass again, pounding into him. It was a wonder to take his virginity before watching him squirm under the others," he whispered.

"You're sick," Ryuk muttered.

"Perhaps I am, but I am sick with the best kind of illness: that of love," Takeshi laughed.

"Then it is a sick love, Kira," the shinigami replied.

Takeshi's laugh rose at the mention of his other name. The famed serial killer collapsed back onto the bed, his chest shaking from laughter. He kissed the picture again.

"What would you think of that, my beloved Raito? What would you do if I told you that you just managed to escape the horrifying Kira? Would you cower in fear or offer me your ass, unlike last time?"

"I doubt he would offer you his body."

The teenager glanced back at the shinigami.

"You never know what fear does to people. Even my beloved Raito could be broken if I worked hard enough. It's too bad that I love the hunt, or he would be locked up in a basement somewhere being fucked by me every night."

Takeshi turned his gaze back to the photo.

"What will you do, my beloved Raito? What will you do?" the serial killer cooed, the Death Note lying at his side.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Raito knew that L was watching him again. He could feel the dark eyes boring into his back as he sorted through a series of paper. The tapping of fingers on keys continued, but Raito could feel the eyes staring at him, searching. He didn't twitch or fidget under the cold gaze like he had before. Today he was still and calm. The hunt the night before had steeled his soul against any possible distractions. He had to find Kira before anyone else did.

"Raito-kun," L said.

"Yes?" the brunette replied.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Hypothetical or theoretical?"

"Hypothetical."

Turning to look at the older man, Raito raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

"How old do you believe Kira is?" L asked.

He was curled up in his favorite thinking position, his hands on top of his knees. His face was expressionless. Raito frowned slightly at the question. He was silent for a moment before he replied.

"He's young, I believe or at least no older than forty. Older man don't tend to care what others think of them," Raito said.

"Perhaps, but I deduce that he is even younger than forty. I'd say he's closer to twenty," L muttered.

"Why is that?" Raito asked, his heartbeat quickening.

"It is because of your deduction that Kira has someone to whom he has to be able to explain his actions. Obviously, he is planning for a future that he thinks will eventually come. If he believed that no one would ever catch him, criminals would not be the only people he'd kill," L replied.

"I still don't see why that makes Kira as young as twenty," Raito murmured. "People around my age aren't exactly good at planning for the future."

"No, but this is Kira. He's not an average person by any means. His future with whoever this important person is seems to be vital to everything he does," L said.

He eyed Raito carefully.

"Do you have any idea who that person could be, Raito-kun?"

"Um, no, I really don't. Apart from family-"

"-I don't think this has anything to do with family," L said, interrupting him. "I think that Kira has a lover stashed away somewhere."

"A lover?"

Raito turned to glance at L, finding the gaze still stuck on him. The calm that had frozen his heart had melted into a pool of cold water in his stomach. He worked hard to keep his breath steady, trying to hide the fear.

"It could just be a crush or someone that he's in love with, not necessarily a lover," the brunette replied. "If he is around twenty years old, there will be plenty of that."

"Really? How do you know?"

"What do you mean?"

With every second that passed, Raito became increasingly aware of L's suspicion of him and, with it, he became more and more nervous.

"You've never dated anyone for more than a week or two," L said, sitting back in his chair.

"How do-"

"-Don't play games with me, Raito-kun. Your father is a police officer. You know how these things work."

Raito held back a gulp and turned back to his papers, rifling through them. He shrugged lightly.

"I've never really found anyone I've liked enough to love, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how young people act," he spat.

"So you agree with me then that Kira is a young man?"

The brunette froze for a second, thinking. Slowly, he nodded and started to flip through the papers again.

"I do."

L examined Raito closely. He'd easily picked up on the strange changes in attitude throughout their conversation, the slight nuances that a less trained eye wouldn't see. The stiffening of the back meant surprise, probably at being caught in a trap he'd hoped to avoid. The shakiness of his voice was a sign of nervousness. What would Raito have to be nervous about other than realizing that L was catching on to him? Then there had been that almost unnoticeable slip up of Raito saying 'around his age'. L had not specified whether or not Kira was in his early or late twenties. Raito had done that for him instead.

"So, we can agree then that Kira is a male in his twenties with a possible love interest and a strong sense of justice, even if it is misplaced?" L asked.

"Yes, I guess we could," the nervous teen replied, flashing a smile at the detective.

'Charm won't get you everywhere, Raito-kun. You will be found out and your dark secret will be dragged into the sunlight for all to see,' L thought. 'Now, it is only a matter of time, but the question is how long? The cameras I had Watari install were only put up yesterday. I need to alter his environment further, get him out of his comfort zone.'

"Raito-kun, I have an idea," L said, drawing the teen's attention away from the papers once again. "We seem to work very well together, you and I. In the past two days, we've managed to narrow the field further than I could have ever hoped to do alone. It feels like a shame to waste all those late night hours with you traveling back and forth between here and your home."

"You want me to move here?" Raito asked, finishing L's idea for him.

The great detective nodded, giving Raito a crooked smile.

"Of course, I only have one bedroom, but the bed is large enough for us to share. We're both men. It won't be a problem, will it?"

"Well, if you think that's necessary."

"I do."

"I-I'd have to check with my parents first."

"I'll have Watari contact your father. Right now, we must focus. You never know what further progress can be made in the few minutes it takes to make a phone call," L replied.

Raito nodded half-heartedly, his stomach growing cold again. He knew that L wanted to keep a close eye on him, although the reason why he was acting so soon baffled Raito. It was impossible for the detective to have seen him sneaking out for-. Raito stopped in mid-thought, a realization dawning on him. His heart sank.

Nothing was impossible anymore. Kira was murdering criminals in maximum security prisons by somehow inducing heart attacks from afar. L could have easily discovered Raito's late night hunts.

As L went to talk to Watari, Raito quickly tried to figure out a way to get around sharing a room with the raven-haired detective. His clothing would easily hide the scar on his back, but that was the last thing that Raito was worried about. He knew that he had nightmares, violent ones, and they often left him unable to sleep at all. When he was able to sleep through them, he would thrash around in bed like a wild animal. Sometimes, he even pushed himself off of the bed as he tried to get away from the men that haunted his dreams. How was he going to explain that to L?

"We called your father, Raito-kun," L said cheerfully as he entered the room. "He agreed with us and will be sending over some of your clothes and stuff in a few hours."

Raito nodded, sighing inwardly. He knew that this was going to be absolute hell.

**That is my explanation for why Raito has to stay with L. I'm unsure if I'll actually have the attached by handcuffs part, but they will be sleeping in the same bed. Drama ensues!**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The laptop's screen was split into four separate live feeds, each showing the recordings of a different camera. One was focused on the living room, where L sat. The second showed the empty kitchen and the third showed the just as empty bathroom. It was the fourth feed that L was interested in. He watched as Raito set his athletic bag on the bed and started to take things out of it. The teen's father had brought him some basic necessities such as clothing and a toothbrush, but not a whole lot more. The camera easily picked up the sound of Raito's heavy sigh as he looked over the contents of his bag, shaking his head slightly.

'He's disappointed. They have strained relationship, perhaps?' L thought.

Picking up a small pile of clean pressed shirts, Raito walked over to the dresser and yanked open a drawer. He found the contents to be a messy array of baggy white shirts and rough, torn jeans. Rolling his eyes, the teen slammed the drawer closed and moved onto the next one. It was empty so he carefully set the shirts inside before heading back to the bed. His collection of somewhat skinny jeans followed.

The last thing that Raito pulled out of the bag was his athletic jacket. It was black and sleek, made of waterproof material that could withstand everything except for possibly a typhoon. The seams at the shoulder and sides of the jacket were lined with white to draw attention to the strength of the wearer's back. On the right side of the chest, his name was written in kanji. He flipped it over to examine the back. In the middle of the upper back region, where Raito's shoulder blades would be, the school insignia had been stitched into the cloth.

What L should not see though were the two folded strips of bandages that Raito kept hidden in a small pocket on the inside of the jacket. As he ran his hands over the fabric, Raito could feel the slightly raised area where the bandages were, reassuring the teen that his father hadn't found them. He quickly refolded the jacket and set it on top of the pile of shirts in the drawer. Tossing the bag under the bed, the brunette made his way to the attached bathroom, his toothbrush in hand.

L bit his thumb, his face expressionless. He was not at all surprised to find nothing unusual about the collection of clothes that Raito's father had brought for him. L didn't suspect Chief Yagami to be involved with his son's supposed activities as Kira, but he also knew there was no harm in double checking. As his eyes drifted to the next screen, he bit down harder, his teeth cutting through the nail.

'Come on, Raito-kun. Slip up. Make a mistake,' he thought as he watched the boy set his toothbrush on the edge of the sink. 'Hang on. What's he doing?'

Raito had his hands resting on the edge of the sink, leaning most of his weight onto them. His face was only a few inches away from the small mirror that hung above the sink, his gaze sliding over his reflection. L frowned. He knew Raito to be slightly vain about his appearance, or at least he seemed to be based on the quality of the clothing his father had brought. Why then wasn't he doing anything? He hadn't made a move to fix his bangs or straighten the collar of his shirt. The brunette was just staring at himself, eyes barely half open. It almost looked like he was squinting, trying to see a blurry version of himself in the mirror.

Suddenly, Raito threw himself away from the sink and the mirror, storming out of the bathroom. L just managed to get the strange look off his face and switch back to the internet before Raito came into the room.

"I've finished unpacking," the brunette said as he sat on the couch across from L.

"Do you have everything you need? Watari can get you anything that you're missing," L replied.

Raito shook his head.

"Everything is there."

'Except for my scythe,' he thought sadly.

His mind drifted to his bedroom at home, where the scythe rested safely under the floorboards. He itched to hold the invisible blade in his hands. It comforted him whenever he had terrible nightmares or the night got too dark. In a situation such as the one he was currently in, having the scythe with him would have certainly been welcome.

"I hope you will be comfortable here, Raito-kun," L continued. "It's small, but it has everything we need."

"I'm sure it will be fine, Ryuuzaki-san. Would you like me to get anything for you?" Raito asked.

"A piece of cake would be nice," L said, smiling.

"What kind?"

"Hm."

L pretended to think about it.

"Angel food would be nice."

The great detective looked back down at his laptop, switching the application from the internet back to the video feed as Raito disappeared into the kitchen. He watched the teen move to the refrigerator, pulling out a new box of angel food cake that L had Watari buy earlier than morning. L's eyes narrowed as Raito started to cut a large slice for him, carefully moving it from the box to the plate. His motions were clean, smooth, and practiced. They were designed to look perfect.

'He's quite the actor,' L mused as he flipped back to the internet.

"Here you are, Ryuuzaki-san."

L took plate and fork that Raito offered him. He quickly stabbed the cake, happily eating a large hunk of it. There was nothing better for a complicated problem than pure sugar. A normal person would have been jumping out of their skin after eating as much of the substance as L did, but he lived for it. The rush that it brought made his brain work faster and better than any sort of carbohydrates or protein could.

"Thank you, Raito-kun."

"It's no problem," the teenager murmured.

"You're very polite, aren't you?" L asked.

"I guess so," Raito said, shrugging. "My parents raised me to be anyway."

"Your man is a good man."

"He's a good cop."

'Interesting answer,' L thought.

"He sure is. I've read the reports from the Suzuya case last year. Impressive work. You helped him with that one, didn't you?" L asked.

"I did. It was the first case I ever worked on," Raito replied.

"You helped solve it," L stated.

Raito nodded slowly.

"I was the one that first raised the idea of a killer being a woman."

L studied Raito for a moment, his face expressionless.

"Why is it that you only work on murder cases?" L asked.

A cold feeling spread through Raito's chest as he met L's gaze. He could practically see the suspicion growing in the dark eyes.

"Maybe its because my dad works in Homicide. No other departments would take on the advise of a seventeen-year-old kid, even if I helped solve a bunch of tough homicides," Raito laughed nervously.

"Are you sure? It seems to me that the majority of what you've done is profile killers," L said quietly.

"I'm good at it. I watched a lot of crime dramas when I was a kid."

"Most boys couldn't identify a killer if their lives depended on it."

"I really don't know why, okay? It's a talent. I didn't ask for it!" Raito shouted.

L was slightly taken aback. He hadn't anticipated the brunette teen to have a temper. Raito had never once indicated having a fire burning in his soul.

"Be careful Raito-kun," Ryuk murmured in the teen's ear.

Shifting in his seat, Raito tried to ignore the shinigami that hovered behind him. He knew that Ryuk was as invisible to L as his scythe would be, but he didn't want to give anything away. One slight change in attitude and L would be all over him, although not for being able to see the demonic thing behind him. The detective would misinterpret everything. He wasn't the kind to believe in shinigamis anyway, even if he was sitting across from two of them.

"I'm sorry for asking. I didn't know it was a soft spot for you," L said, expressionless.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry for snapping," Raito sighed, shaking his head. "It was unprofessional of me."

"Trouble is coming," Ryuk hissed. "We need to talk."

The brunette continued to ignore the shinigami.

"Would you like some cake?" L asked, holding out the plate.

"Takeshi is coming for you."

Raito shuddered as Ryuk murmured the name in his ear. It ran through his entire body, turning his veins to ice and his bones to dust. The scar on his lower back burned as memories of the pain resurfaced. He gulped loudly, his fear rising. There was nothing in the world that he hated more than that damned name: Kira's real name.

"No, thank you," Raito squeaked. "Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom."

L frowned as the brunette rushed off in the direction of the bathroom. He glanced over his shoulder as the door slammed closed. Looking back at the screen of his computer, the detective watched as the teen threw up in the toilet, his body convulsing as the contents of his stomach spilled into the water.

'What the fuck was that?' L wondered, his frown growing deeper.

"I thought that would get his attention," Ryuk said as he too watched the recording of Raito on the computer.

Takeshi was smiling as he reread the names he'd written in the Death Note. He was lying on his bed, legs propped up on a pillow. His head rested against another smaller pillow which was covered in blue fabric and decorated with gold stitching.

Turning to the first page, the teenager's smile grew wider. His gaze traveled half way down the page to his favorite line. It was the only one where more than a name had been written and Takeshi reached out, running a single finger along the line. He loved the feeling of the rough paper under the pads of his hands, but it couldn't compare to the memory of Raito's skin.

"You're daydreaming."

Takeshi glanced back at the demon that stood behind him, the ripped wings extending and contracting.

"How are you, Ire?"

"Fine. I saw something I think you should know. It concerns that boy that Ryuk turned into a living death god."

"My beloved Raito-kun?"

"Aye. Ryuk went to see him today."

"I guessed as much. Ryuk has a soft spot for my beloved."

Ire snickered wickedly.

"He's got more than a soft spot for the kid. I think he really likes him," the shinigami replied.

"Ryuk wouldn't dare touch him," Kira spat, his eyes flashing red.

"Perhaps not, but he did tip him off. The kid knows you want him," Ire said.

Takeshi matched the shinigami's grin.

"Good. I was hoping he would. If I wasn't sure of that, I never would have told the fool anything."

"Oh, you are a bad one Kira."

"And you love me for it!"

The serial killer's eyes glared a deep red, the color of flowing blood.

**Ire is an OC, by the way.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Oh sorry if there was any confusion about Takeshi Inoue. He's an OC actually. He's not based on anyone in the original Death Note story. I completely made him up. Also, if there's any confusion about Raito's role as a shinigami, that will all be cleared up eventually. Its part of the suspense Okay maybe not, but everything will be explained! **

**Thank you to everyone who follows this story. I'm glad that you like it. **

Chapter 5

'Shit shit shit, motherfucking shit!'

The toothbrush moved harshly over Raito's gums, tracing the contours where the teeth met the tissue. He winced in pain as the bristles dug into his sensitive gums, but kept brushing. Over the past few days, he'd neglected that spot, the last molar on the upper right and now it was taking revenge upon him. As he withdrew the toothbrush, he examined the bristles, finding them tipped with red. The minty flavor of the paste had masked the metallic taste of the blood in his mouth.

"Raito-kun?" L asked, knocking on the bathroom door.

"Yes! I'm fine!" the teenager replied as he turned on the faucet.

Cupping his hands under the water, Raito splashed the cold liquid into his mouth, washing it out. He quickly spit it out and repeated until he felt that it was clean. Setting his toothbrush on the edge of the sink, the teen picked up the small pile of clothes he'd set on the floor near his feet.

"Hang on a second, Ryuuzaki-san."

Not hearing the sound of footsteps moving away, Raito turned so his back was to the sink and quickly tore off his shirt, throwing on the one that he had set in the pile. He let out a sigh of relief when the act was done, changing his pants in just as fast a manner. When he was done, he walked to the bathroom door and opened it. L was standing on the other side, his bare feet sinking into the carpet. Raito was glad to see that his laptop was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you need to use the bathroom?" Raito asked.

"No. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. The incident today was alarming," the detective replied.

"It's alright. I must have eaten something bad this morning is all," Raito said, trying to laugh it off.

"So you said. I always wanted to tell you that I turned the bed down already."

"Oh, thanks. Aren't you going to go to bed yet?" the teen asked, motioning to L's clothes.

He was still dressed in the white baggy shirt and jeans that he had worn all day.

"I don't sleep Raito-kun," the dark-haired man said without emotion as he turned to walk back to the living room.

Raito frowned slightly, but quickly headed for the bedroom. He closed the door behind him so that any stray light from the hall wouldn't bother him in his sleep. The bed was just as L had said it would be: the comforter and the sheets pulled back from the far corner.

Settling onto the bed, Raito sunk into the thick mattress, letting out a sigh. His whole body still ached from the fit of nausea and vomiting that had occurred earlier than afternoon, especially his stomach. Closing his eyes, Raito rolled onto his back, the cool temperature of the sheets soaking into his shirt and soothing the scar carved into his back. Without meaning to, he felt himself slip into sleep faster than any other night in the past year.

L sat alone in the living room, his knees curled up to his chest. His laptop sat on a small table in front of him as he sped through any possible recordings that he'd missed from the day. His other hand was busy cutting a bite from a new slice of cake that rested on his chest.

Glancing over at one of the other boxes on the screen, L saw that the brunette teen was still asleep in bed. He was oddly still, turned onto his side with his back to the window and his face towards the camera. One hand was tucked under the pillow, the other wrapped around his pelvis. His face lacked the typical peaceful look of sleep, thought it didn't have the frown of distress either.

L sighed to himself. The boy was beautiful, despite his masculinity. The muscles in his face rose and dipped in all the right places. His cheekbones were high and clearly defined. His brown hair was perfect even as he slept, unfazed by the existence of the pillow.

Turning back to the recording from earlier, L stabbed the cut piece of cake with his fork. As he lifted it to his mouth, he saw something flash by on the video, making him frown.

Leaning forward, he set the plate of cake aside and rewound the video. He hit play again, his eyes focused on one particular spot. The film was of Raito when he'd been in the bathroom not three hours earlier. He's set his toothbrush aside, yelling at L through the door.

'Interesting,' the detective though as the teen turned so he faced the camera, taking off his shirt. 'Now why did he do that?'

Suddenly, there was a loud scream and L almost jumped out of his seat. Quickly, he glanced at the video of what was going on in the bedroom. Raito was thrashing around on the bed, arching his back in his sleep. Having rolled himself onto his back, he gripped the sheet underneath him tightly with both hands. He threw his head back and forth as his mouth opened to let out another piercing shriek.

Setting his laptop down, L scrambled to the bedroom, throwing the door open. He stood there for a moment, staring into the faint light of the room. Raito had twisted onto his left side, his back to L. He moaned in pain in his sleep and every muscle in his body was tensed, shaking wildly.

Slowly walking over to the side of the bed, L climbed onto it. He stood on his knees over Raito, watching the teen. He reached out, not quite sure what to do. His expert detective training hadn't prepared him for something like this.

He grabbed Raito's shoulder, shaking him roughly. It seemed like the only think to do. Raito continued to thrash and fight, his beautiful face contorting into one of pure terror. The back of the teen's shirt rose as he flailed, revealing the two letters that had been cut into the skin. L's eyes widened when he saw them. Shaking harder, L leaned over Raito, a frown spreading across his face.

"N-no! L-l-leave me alone!" the teen screamed. "N-no! I'm not k-ki-"

'Ki? Short for Kira?' L wondered.

He shook Raito fiercely, raising his leg to straddle the teen.

"Who are you?"

"-Kira!"

"Are you Kira?"

"No! Stop, please!"

"Come on, Raito-kun. Who is Kira? Are you Kira?"

The eyes snapped open, staring up at L. He shook in fear and recoiled, kneeing L between the legs. As the detective groaned and crouched, Raito scrambled away, flattening himself against the headboard. His breath came in ragged pants as he slowly came down from the terror of his nightmare.

"A-Are you okay, Ryuuzaki-san?"

"F-fine, apart from you kicking my balls in," the detective moaned.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you," the teen said, his voice shaking.

"You were only disturbing your own sleep, Raito-kun. What were you dreaming about?"

"I-I don't remember."

"Don't lie," L croaked as he straightened up.

"I really don't remember."

The detective didn't push it. He knew that Raito wouldn't tell him no matter what he did. If he wanted to know the truth, he would have to find out for himself.

'Those cuts must have been very deep. I'm surprised he even let someone get close enough to inflict them,' L thought.

As L watched, the terrified look on Raito's face melted into one of absolute despair. His gaze dropped to the sheets and he grew very still. Shoulders slumped, Raito started to cry, a single tear running down his face. His hands lay flat on the sheets, palms turned upwards. Once again, the brunette had startled L's cool attitude. He almost felt bad for making the teen cry.

"Please don't ask about it. Just leave me alone," Raito murmured, covering his eyes with his hand.

When L didn't leave, the boy raised his eyes. They were devoid of any fire that the brunette had one had, leaving him only a sad shell.

"I'm a suspect in the Kira case, aren't I?"

L, not wanting to lie, nodded.

"Well I'm not Kira. I can promise you that on whatever you want me to. I'm not that damn mother fucker."

"You seem quite confident in that fact," L stated.

"Because it's true," Raito replied.

"I will determine that," L said.

"Get on with it then," the brunette murmured.

L didn't move from his seat next to Raito. He watched as the brunette lowered his head and rested against the headboard, curling his legs up to his chest.

**Even if it seems like L is a little out of character by not asking, it plays an important role in the plot. He suspects Raito of being Kira. He knows that Raito won't tell him ANYTHING.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The following morning, L was sitting in front of his computer once again, trying to piece together what had happened the night before. Raito was dozing on the couch, finally falling asleep again after hours of staring out the window in silence. It almost looked like he was waiting for someone to come for him, his gaze glued to the street far below. Neither of the men had spoken through this long silence. The only sound had been the clacking of L's fingers on the keys of his laptop. At about four-thirty, the brunette teen had moved from his seat next to the window to the couch, curling up with his back to L. As the detective watched, the boy's breathing slowed into the steady rhythm of sleep.

Even after Raito fell asleep, L couldn't tear his eyes away from the brunette. L had seen him at his most vulnerable. Ever since he'd first read the police file on the teenager, L had known him to be completely confident in himself and his abilities. He was smart, he was handsome, and he knew it. What, then, had broken this beautiful creature down into a sleepless mess that was afraid of anything that moved in the night outside the window? While the great detective wasn't quite sure what the source of Ratio's fear was, he knew that it had to be monumental.

'What darkness are you hiding inside yourself, Raito-kun?' L silently asked.

He glanced down at the screen of his computer to find the encrypted files he'd been trying to hack for the past hour open and ready for him. Quickly typing in a few key words, he watched as the computer searched for them, finding only a few hits. He sighed and scrolled through them.

'No. Nope. Not at all what I'm looking- hello.'

Slumping in his chair, L rested the laptop on his chest, ignoring the burning heat the emanated from it. He clicked on the file and bit his thumb as he started to read. The first two paragraphs were full of unimportant rambles about the names of various ancient gods representing death, but it was the third paragraph that perked L's interest.

_The Death Books are very old and very rare, almost a mystery lost to time. Yet, no matter how many times people deny their existence, they always reappear in the hand of a man made the Executioner by a Death God. Enemies of the Executioner fall quickly to pains in the chest that ricochet through their ranks like a plague gone wild. In the past, many an Executioner had their enemies' heads put on spikes for all to see and fear. With their newfound power seems to come a sense of absolute authority over all life for all they need to send someone to the Death Gods is a name._

Pains in the chest? Sense of absolute authority over all life? It all seemed to fit. L was not one to believe in anything he couldn't see, but this file was the first possible breakthrough he'd had on how Kira was committing his murders. L glanced over the top of his laptop screen at the sleeping form of Raito, his face emotionless.

'Say that Kira did have one of these Death Books. He could easily kill anyone he wanted with just a name and Raito-kun has access to the names of every criminal that Kira has killed so far. If I can confirm the existence of this Death Book, the percentage will increase to 95,' he thought.

His focus turned to the scar he'd seen on Raito's back.

'D.N. D for Death, possibly? What does the N mean? There are seven hundred and sixty nine words that begin with N (1). It could be anything.'

Searching for anything more on the so called Executioner, L found several references in the next paragraph. He frowned heavily as he read on.

_Then there are the unfortunate few who fall to the Executioner's other adopted skill: torture. The survivors are few and exist only based upon the will of the Executioner. They forever walk with the scars of their torture, reminded constantly to watch carefully for his return. What is curious is the phenomenon that follows. If a Death God deems the punishment to be unjust, the tortured soul is given a choice: remain in their sad life or take up the Scythe._

"The Scythe?" he murmured, his frown deepening.

Saving the file to an encrypted folder hidden safely in a dark corner of his hard drive, L set his computer aside and sneaked over to the couch. He knelt down, setting his hands on his knees. Reaching out, he cautiously lifted up the back of the brunette's shirt. His eyes hadn't been deceiving him; the two letters were carved into the tanned flesh. L examined the scars closely, looking for any signs that would tell him how old the scar was.

'These healed less than a year ago. I doubt that Chief Yagami would know what happened. He and Raito-kun don't seem to be very close and, if Chief Yagami doesn't know, then I doubt there's a hospital record of it. Raito-kun isn't one to take help from anyone.'

"Ryuuzaki-san, what are you- Get the fuck away from me!"

Suddenly, L was flung across the room, hitting the wall hard. His vision darkened for a second and, when it returned, he found Raito gone.

"Raito-kun?" he called out. "Raito-kun!"

A door slammed and L rushed over to the abandoned laptop. Raito was curled up on the bed, his back flat against the headboard. His face was buried in his arms, his entire body convulsing. Sitting back on his heels, L sighed and hung his head. A strong feeling –guilt- invaded his being and held on through the rest of the morning no matter how many times he tried to squash it.

Takeshi was waiting in the shadows out by the front gate of his apartment complex. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his athletic jacket and his stance was relaxed. Leaning against the wall, he was barely noticeable. Only the red glow of his eyes gave him away.

Hearing footsteps, he turned to see a young woman practically skipping towards him. Her blond hair was back in two tails that bounced against her back as she walked and her eyes were a deep brown color. She was smiling widely, her perfectly straight teeth flashing. Her metal cross earrings caught the light, making them glimmer in the dark. At Takeshi's apartment complex, she stopped to read the sign outside.

Sliding out of the shadows, Takeshi snuck up behind the blond woman as she read. He didn't move or reach out to touch her, standing silently a few feet away. As the blond turned to face him, her smile widened to light up the rest of her face.

"These eyes tell me who you are. Misa-Misa is glad to meet you," she said, her voice rising in pitch.

"Shall we?" Takeshi asked, motioning towards the apartment building behind him.

Misa Amane nodded and followed Takeshi towards his apartment. She was silent for the entire walk, though the wide smile didn't fade. When they were safe inside the apartment, Takeshi took off his jacket and turned towards her.

"We won't be disturbed here," he said. "I share the apartment with my parents, but they're both gone for a few days."

"Alright, Kira-sama," Misa giggled.

"You're quite the happy one, aren't you?" Takeshi asked as he sat on the couch.

"Misa-Misa is just happy to meet you, Kira-sama," Misa replied, clasping her hands in front of her.

"So you're the one that sent me the message, correct (2)?" Takeshi asked.

Misa nodded.

"And the videos to the news stations a few weeks ago?"

"Misa-Misa has wanted to meet you for a long time, Kira-sama," she said.

"And why is that?" the teenage boy asked.

"Well, you avenged the murder of Misa-Misa's parents. Misa-Misa will follow you to the death for that," Misa cried happily.

"You said that your eyes let you know who I am."

"Rem has given Misa-Misa the Shinigami eyes. Misa-Misa wanted to know who you were."

Reaching into the purse that hung at her side, the small woman pulled out a black notebook. It was identical to Takeshi's own, the words 'Death Note' written across it in gold. Takeshi smiled again when he saw it.

"So you're the Second 'Kira'. I have to say, you're not quite what I excepted," he said, sitting back in his chair.

"Misa-Misa is a model. She physically fits into whatever role she is given, but mentally she is someone different."

Takeshi nodded in understanding. Standing up, he walked to his bedroom. Yanking out one of the drawers in the desk, he pulled up the false bottom that he'd put in one of them and retrieved his Death Note. He walked back into the living room and sat down again.

"I have a job for you, Misa-chan," he said slowly, opening his Death Note.

"Anything Kira-sama asks of Misa-Misa, she will do," the woman replied cheerfully.

Showing Misa the first page of his Death Note, Takeshi pointed to a name halfway down the list.

"Misa-Misa doesn't remember his name being mentioned as a criminal that has fallen to you, Kira-sama," Misa said, frowning.

"It's because he's not a dead," Takeshi laughed.

"But his name is written there!" the blond murmured.

"You see this?"

Misa leaned in to look closer. Next to the name, written in small print, was another word. Her eyes widened and she glanced at Takeshi.

"He is a close friend of mine and I didn't want to kill him. This was a punishment for a grave sin that he committed," Takeshi laughed.

"What sin is that?" Misa asked.

Takeshi gave her a wicked stare, examining her face closely.

"You don't need to know, Misa-chan. Now, I need you to find and stick close to him. He's gotten involved with the task force designed to bring me down and I don't want him getting hurt in the process. At the same time, I want you to use your eyes and find out the names of everyone on the task force, especially a certain detective named L. They pose a threat to my ultimate goal as well as my beloved Raito."

"So Kira-sama wants Misa-Misa to infiltrate the ranks," Misa murmured to herself.

"That is correct."

The blond smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Misa-Misa will do whatever it takes to please, Kira-sama!"

**A/N: (1) I completely made this number up so don't quote me on it. I actually tried to google this and found nothing and I didn't have a real dictionary on hand. It just sounds like something that L would know.**

**(2): I didn't bother to include this scene because its well known already. I just moved the timing of it up to before L meets Raito.**

**Oh and my publishing will be a bit sporadic this week. I'm traveling, but I hope to have at least one or two more chapters done for each of my three current stories at some point early next week so calm down when I don't post every day or even every other. I haven't died or anything.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Raito raised his hands above his head and stretched, hearing his back creak. He sighed softly, lowering his hand to rub the back of his neck as he moved his head from side to side. Every movement he made incited a faint creak from his body and, with it, relief. He'd always found the chairs at his father's office to be very uncomfortable and sitting in them after practically days of sitting almost non-stop, they were more than unwelcome. L sat next to him, legs pulled up to his chest. He was staring at Chief Yagami, watching as the policeman read the files they'd given him.

"I am a little confused here, Ryuuzaki-san," the chief said as he sat back in his chair.

"How so, sir?" L asked.

"You said you'd found something new. I don't see anything new in these reports," Chief Yagami replied.

The brunette teen glanced over at the detective, frowning.

"What I found is not in those reports," L said.

"Well, where is it?"

Raito could hear the slight annoyance in his father's voice and he almost flinched. The chief's angry side was something that not even L would be able to handle. It was barely controllable and could be violent when it was provoked enough, the typical result of the stresses of a job in homicide.

Watari entered the room quietly, holding a small pile of papers. He handed them to L before he took up a spot in the corner of the room. Holding up the papers, L ignored the confused looks that Raito was giving him.

"I found the first of these a few days ago in a folder of encrypted files owned by a researcher who works at T-university. He specializes in the translation of ancient texts, specifically those that were saved from the Library of Alexandria," the detective explained as he set the papers in front of the chief.

"And why were you hacking into his files in the first place, Ryuuzaki-san?" Chief Yagami asked, tentatively picking up the papers.

"I had my reasons," was L's response.

Raito watched as his father looked down at the file and started to read. He paid particular attention to the confused frown that spread across the policeman's face. He'd never seen his father so surprised, confused, and angry at the same time.

"You really expect me to believe this, Ryuuzaki-san?" the policeman shouted. "Raito, do I really seem that stupid?"

"Raito-kun didn't know about these files. I did this investigation all on my own," L said, his voice cold.

"This isn't an investigation! It's a waste of time!" Chief Yagami shouted.

"I don't believe so."

"Really, do you now? I'm shocked. I thought you were a logical man that didn't believe in this kind of occult shit."

"I normally don't, but there are too many similarities for it not to be investigated."

The brunette teen glanced back and forth between his father and the detective. L had told him nothing about whatever he'd found. He hadn't even informed Raito that he'd found anything, but what they were saying now was making him nervous. L couldn't have possibly figured it out. Even if they had found the compartment hidden under the floorboards of his room, the scythe was invisible to anyone who hadn't touched it with their bare hand.

"Occult books are not worth being investigated!"

That pricked Raito's attention.

"That is up to me to determine that."

Sighing, Chief Yagami pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

"So what are these Death Books?" he asked.

"From what I've found so far," L started, motioning to the pile of papers, "They've been around for thousands of years. They're said to be given to humans by death gods or maybe just one death god. The book gives its human owner the ability to kill anyone with just their name by writing it in the book. The victim then has a heart attack that killed one hundred percent of the time."

"It's in keeping with Kira's MO," the chief murmured.

L nodded.

"It is. I've found references to the Death Books in texts from almost every civilization that had a written language. Even Da Vinci knew about them," L replied.

Raito silently shuddered from where he sat next to L. They knew about Kira having a Death Note, or at least, they suspected it. If they ever got their hands on the book, they'd read what was written in it: his name. They would know everything.

_He'd been walking home late from cram school, cutting through an alley to make up for lost time. His teacher had kept him after to discuss Raito's plans for the future and for university so he was running behind schedule. Mrs. Yagami had expected him home over half an hour ago for dinner and, to add to his troubles, his cellphone battery had died, leaving him unable to alert her to what had happened._

_Seeing someone up ahead, Raito smiled. He easily recognized the silhouette that was coming towards him._

"_Takeshi!" he's called out. "I haven't seen you since graduation."_

_When the other teen was close enough for Raito to see his face, he stopped. His face was contorted into a look of wild fury, his mouth a straight line. He held a black notebook in one hand, clutching it tightly. The front cover was turned towards Raito so he could easily read it: Death Note._

"_Takeshi, is everything alright?" Raito had asked._

"_You act like it never happened," Takeshi spat._

"_I-I'm sorry. I thought you would want us to still be friends," Raito said._

"_No, Raito-kun, I don't want us to be friends. I want us to be something more than that!" Takeshi hissed._

"_I don't like you that way, Takeshi and I told you that when you asked me out at graduation," Raito replied._

"_Shut up!" the other teen spat. "No more talking."_

"_But Takeshi-"_

"_-How dare you turn me down! Do you really think that you'll do anything better then me?"_

"_Takeshi, please-"_

"_-Shut up, I said!"_

_Holding up the notebook, Takeshi opened it to the first page so Raito could read what was written there. The dark eyes scanned down the page, widening as he recognized the names._

"_T-Takeshi, why-"_

"_-Are the names of Kira's victims in here?" Takeshi laughed. "It's because I'm Kira, my beloved Raito-kun."_

_As he turned to dash away, Raito found that he was surrounded. Four men, all much larger than him, were blocking the other end of the alley, their massive silhouettes shadowing him. Glancing back at Takeshi, Raito held up his hands in a submissive position._

"_Please don't do this, Takeshi," he said, his voice breaking._

"_I'm not going to kill you, Raito-kun. That would be a waste of such a beautiful face and ass," his former friend continued. _

_Turning the book back towards himself, Takeshi retrieved a pen from his pocket and quickly wrote something on the open page. Satisfied, he held it up so Raito could once again read it. Absolute terror filled Raito's dark eyes as he read: Raito Yagami, gang rape. _

"_I can kill anyone I like, but there's also another use for the Death Note. I can curse someone with a terrible fate by writing it her. Now, get on your knees."_

"_I don't-"_

"_-On your knees."_

_Raito did as he was told, lowering his arms to his side. Suddenly, they were yanked behind him and he struggled to get free. One of the bigger man held the brunette in place as Takeshi approached them, smiling wickedly. His thin hips swayed slightly, his hand lowering to the zipper of his pants. Raito started to cry as he heard the zipper being slowly opened, the sound vibrating in his ears. Takeshi's hand came down to rest on the back of his head, winding in the brown tresses. Screwing his eyes shut, Raito tried to hold back a shudder at the touch, trying to block out the sound of cotton sliding over skin._

"_Open your mouth, my beloved Raito-kun."_

_Shaking his head wildly, Raito clamped his jaws tightly. He felt Takeshi's other hand travel up his neck to his face, the first still clenching the back of his head. Fingers tickled his skin before they dug harshly into either side of his mouth, forcing his jaws open. Raito tried to cry out when Takeshi shoved himself into the brunette's mouth, silencing him. The brunette gagged, coughing._

"_Don't you dare bite me, Raito-kun," Takeshi cooed, pressing on the back of Raito's head. "Otherwise, one of these men will be your first and they don't love you like I do. Being gentle isn't exactly what they're built for."_

_Raito pulled his tongue as far back into his throat as possible, but felt that it only opened himself further for Takeshi._

"_Lick."_

_It tasted disgusting as Raito started to suck off his former friend. Tears streamed down his cheeks while the other teen rocked his hips, pulling himself in and out of Raito's hot mouth. Takeshi moaned and started to thrust faster, his fingers still tight in the brunette hair. His mind almost seemed to freeze with fear. He couldn't believe that Takeshi, who he thought had been his best friend for years, was doing this to him._

_Without warning, Takeshi came. Raito sputtered as Takeshi pulled out, trying to keep the hot substance from slipping down his throat. Unfortunately, some got past his defenses, making his stomach gurgle with disgust. Throwing himself forward, Raito couched wildly, the white liquid seeping from his mouth as tears fell faster down his face. Takeshi stepped around him, eyeing the brunette. Raito could feel the hunger in his gaze, shuddering as the huge hands of the giant man on his arms were replaced with the slimmer, familiar hands of Takeshi._

"_T-Ta-"_

"_-Don't talk unless I tell you to, my beloved Raito-kun. There's a good boy."_

_Takeshi stroked his arms, pushing Raito down onto the ground. Shivering with fear, Raito tried to crawl away, but found himself pinned._

"_Stay there," Takeshi laughed as he reached around Raito's body, undoing his pants._

_Raito's cries turned into sobs when his pants and boxers were yanked down, revealing his ass. A hand, Takeshi's hand, stroked the pale skin, gripping it. Raito yelped and tried to leap away, but was held down by his former friend._

"_Shh, Raito-kun."_

_Suddenly, Takeshi gripped his hips harshly, dragging him backwards. Wrapping one arm around Raito's hips, the other boy used his free hand to spread Raito's cheeks. He smiled wickedly as he leaned in. Raito yelped again as something wet touched his opening, licking. He whined loudly, whimpering. The wet appendage pushed past the ring of muscle, lapping at the walls of his opening. Laying as still as possible, Raito couldn't hold back the shudders of disgust as Takeshi's saliva poured into him, wetting the walls._

"_Tell me that you love me, Raito-kun," Takeshi murmured as he sat up, pulling himself flush against Raito's ass._

_Clamping his mouth closed again, Raito refused to talk._

"_Tell me that you love me," Takeshi repeated._

_He pushed his fingers against Raito's entrance, rubbing back and forth to tease him. Raito whimpered, but still refused to speak._

"_Fine."_

_Raito yelped as two fingers pushed inside of him, forcing his eyes open wide. He struggled and cried, the fingers moving roughly._

"_You seem to like that," Takeshi chuckled, his free hand moving down to Raito's cock. "Do you want more?"_

_Shaking his head wildly, Raito tried to curl up into a ball, but Takeshi's grip on him tightened, making him squeak. A third finger was quickly shoved in, making Raito bite his lip, drawing blood. The fingers moved in and out of him easily, spreading to loosen his entrance. When they were withdrawn, Raito relaxed a bit, thankful that it was over. However, his nightmare was quickly resurrected when something much larger was shoved inside of him._

"_T-T-"_

_His mouth was covered with a gag as his former friend forced himself in to the hilt. The pain was excruciating. Raito felt like he was being split in half, the pain running up his spine. His whole body shook as Takeshi started to move, sliding in and out. The rhythm was strong and forceful, leaving Raito no time to adjust._

"_So tight, so beautiful," Takeshi panted as he pounded into his friend._

_Raito screamed against the gag, the tears turning his face red. Against his will, he found himself moving against Takeshi. His fingers dug into a crack in the sidewalk, tearing at the cement like it was the last thing on earth._

"_Tell me that you love me, Raito-kun."_

_When he didn't get a response, Takeshi hissed and sped up. Raito's voice rose in pitch, although the fabric of the gag kept it muffled._

"_So close," Takeshi panted as he wildly rode the brunette, his fingers bruising the sensitive hips._

_With one final thrust, he released inside of Raito, leaning his entire bodyweight on his former friend. Raito shrieked one last time before he collapsed, Takeshi still inside of him. Panting, Takeshi pulled out and looked down at the brunette. Raito was curled up, not caring that his ass was raised into the air. Smiling, Takeshi motioned to the other men. He stood as they approached, bending down only to pick up the Death Note that he'd dropped. Leaning against the wall with his pants still open, Takeshi watched as the other four men pounced on the worn out Raito._

"_Do whatever you want, just don't screw up his face," Takeshi laughed when he saw Raito's terrified eyes turn up to him._

_Takeshi grinned and raised his one free hand to his cock as the four men started to have their way with Raito. One of the men had forced himself into Raito's mouth, another into his entrance. He stroked himself in time to their trusts, enjoying the tears that fell freely from Raito's face. Nothing changed when the brunette was dropped to the cement only to be taken up by the other two. He only enjoyed the show._

_When they were all satisfied, Raito rested in a pool of blood and semen, the white substance flowing freely from his mouth. His legs and butt were covered in them, dying his tanned skin a strange orange color. Kneeling down next to his friend, Takeshi ruffled his brunette hair._

"_Next time, my beautiful Raito-kun, you'll tell me that you love me. Then again, now that I've had you, you might go and find someone else to fill the hole I've left behind. We can't have that, can we? It's best if I mark you."_

_Raito couldn't struggle. He was too tired, too broken. A blade glinted in the darkness, but he ignored it. Every ounce of fear had been sucked out of him. When the blade cut into his back, he didn't even have enough energy to cry. He laid there in silence as the two letters were carved into his back._

"Raito?"

Snapped out of his thoughts, the brunette found both his father and L looking at him curiously. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"I wasn't listening," he quietly admitted.

"I could tell. Are you alright? Ryuuzaki-san isn't working you too hard, is he?" Chief Yagami asked.

"Oh no. I'm fine," Raito said, waving his hands fiercely.

"Raito-kun hasn't been sleeping well," L cut in.

"Oh? Why is that? You've always been a heavy sleeper."

Raito groaned inwardly. He knew that L was doing and it had to do with his reoccurring nightmares.

"Really, Father, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind with the Kira case."

"Hn."

Chief Yagami focused on L again.

"I'll allow you to investigate further, but you need permission from me to release his news to the rest of the task force. Have them focus on all of the normal paths until my say so. You can have Raito to help you though."

"Fine."

"You're both dismissed."

Raito stood first, bowing to his father before he quickly left the office. He could feel L's intense gaze on him as he fled, the detective strolling behind him leisurely. At this point, he didn't really care anymore. If L wanted to chase him as a possible Kira suspect, it only gave Raito more time to find Takeshi and that was fine with him.

Rounding a corner, he stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. The memories had resurrected the drive that he was so famous for. He could feel in coursing through him, filling him with intense motivation. His eyes snapped open and he stormed off, his hands clenching into fists.

**HAHA! I'M BACK! Starting probably tomorrow the once a day or every other day posts will recommence. Rejoice!**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Raito stared up at the ceiling, his eyes clouded with the glaze of deep thought. His hands were at his sides, palms facing his legs. He hadn't moved for over half an hour, although sleep still eluded him.

'Ryuuzaki knows that the Death Notes exist, but he referred to them as "Death Books". Does that mean that he doesn't know their true name or is he doing that to try and trip me up? He didn't need me there when he told Father about them. What other reason could he have for bringing me along? I didn't help him with that part of the investigation and he even told Father that. Maybe he was using my presence to make Father give in on letting him investigate further, but, then again, Ryuuzaki isn't one to bother about currying favor from anyone so that thought is useless. He must be trying to send me a message: that he knows I have something to do with Kira,' Raito thought.

His face darkened and he snarled quietly under his breath.

'Of course, the idiot thinks that I am Kira, which is fucking ridiculous. I can't tell him that though. That motherfucker Takeshi disappeared and I need to be the first one to find him. He is going to fall to my scythe before anyone else can get their hands on him,' he spat in his mind.

He shuddered as he thought about his former best friend. Keeping his eyes open, he stared up at the white expanse of the ceiling. He knew that if he closed his eyes, the pictures and memories would come back only stronger, clearer. That was something he hoped to avoid.

In the distance he heard a door slamming and hurried voices. Sitting up, he got off of the bed and walked to the bedroom door, opening it. He poked his head out to see L and one of the other members of the task force talking by the front door. The man had a package in his hand, the paper ripped from having been opened earlier.

"You need to look at this right away, Ryuuzaki-san! It's extremely important."

L motioned for the officer to follow him into the living room. When they were out of sight, Raito slipped out of the bedroom, silently padding down the hall. He found them sitting in front of the TV, a tape being quickly shoved into the VCR. L, hearing him, turned to look back at the brunette teenager.

"Ah Raito-kun, you're awake," L said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Raito inwardly rolled his eyes. 'You know that I wasn't sleeping, Ryuuzaki,' he thought as the dark-haired man turned his attention back to the TV. 'You were watching me.'

No matter where he was in the apartment, Raito could always feel the eyes following him, watching his every move, even when L wasn't in the room. He could sense the cold stare of cameras boring into his back, capturing everything he did on film. This, of course, didn't surprise him. He was a Kira suspect after all. If he had been L, he would have installed secret cameras as well.

"So what do we have?" Raito asked, taking a seat next to L.

"This tape was sent to our homicide department early this morning. It's postmarked as being from Osaka and shipped two days ago," the officer said as he hit the play button on the remote. "It's similar to the ones that were sent to Sakura TV last week."

The screen was black, a few white lines of static moving up and down. Slowly, some words, all written in an old English script, faded into view, filling the majority of the screen. Raito blinked as he read them, managing to keep the frown from his face. The first few words read: Shall we play a game, detectives?

Raito glanced over at L, who had his eyes focused on the screen. Turning back to the TV, the brunette watched as the words faded out, quickly replaced by new ones: there are no rules so even you will be able to understand them.

The police officer snarled as another sentence appeared on the screen: just follow my hints and maybe you'll find me or maybe not.

Raito felt unease growing in his chest. Takeshi had always been the less serious of the two of them, but quiet and private. Until that night in the alley, his innermost thoughts had been a complete mystery to Raito. What Raito did know, however, was that Takeshi took games and competitions more seriously than anything else. They'd played tennis together since they were kids, succeeding on their high school's team as its top two players. The moment they stepped onto the court, the somewhat shy Takeshi dissolved into the pavement and refused to make an appearance until all of the games, matches, and sets had been played and put to rest.

A new sentence faded into view: "If you're afraid of losing, then you daren't win." (1)

As the tape ended, L pulled his knees up to his chest, his palms resting on top. He lowered his chin, letting it almost hover just behind his hands. His wide eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the now completely black screen.

"Have you looked up that quote yet?" he asked, glancing over at the officer.

"U-uh, yes. It's from Bjorn Borg, one of the greatest tennis stars of the 1970's and 80's," the officer stuttered.

"Tennis?" L repeated.

The officer nodded and L turned his attention to Raito.

"You play tennis, don't you Raito-kun?"

The brunette stilled as panic rose in his chest. He slowly nodded, his emotionless gaze glancing over at the dark detective next to him.

"I do. Great sport. Borg was one of the best ever," he said, trying hard to keep his voice cool and calm.

"Why would Kira pick a quote from him?" the officer asked.

"Perhaps he's playing with us. He did say that it was a game and the 'maybe or maybe not' certainly gave off a playful tone," Raito replied.

"Or he loves tennis," L said.

Raito groaned inwardly as he glanced back at the screen. Something white flickered across the screen and he blinked, frowning. Quickly, he grabbed the remote from the police officer and rewound the tape. Setting it on its slowest setting, he leaned in, squinting. A circle of white grew from the center of the screen, moving outwards. It the video had been set at its normal speed, it could have been mistaken from a glitch or a scratch on the tape itself. As soon as the screen was covered in white, a few more words, written in black flashed across the blank expanse. Raito drew in a sharp breath as he read them.

"Death comes swift to those who are lucky. Death waits for those who are lucky."

* * *

The Yagami house was quiet, its inhabitants having abandoned it for the day. Ryuk sat on the floor of Raito's bedroom, listening to the silence. He loved the quiet of an empty house. It calmed him, reminding him of the days before he'd given the Death Note to Takeshi.

The male shinigami looked around the room, closely examining it. He'd been in the room many times before, mostly in the days following Raito's last interaction with Takeshi, but he'd never really noticed what was there. The bed was behind him, pushed up under the window. In the far right corner was a small desk and a matching chair. Books and papers had been stacked up on top of the desk, untouched for days due to the teen's absence. A few old rackets lay on the floor next to the chair while a bookcase decorated the majority of the wall space across from the bed. Its shelves were filled with more books, mostly non-fiction. The walls were a soft white and the floor beneath Ryuk was made of light brown wood.

He felt a pang of regret in his heart as he glanced around him. For over a month, his entire existence had revolved around nursing the ailing teen back from his hurt and depression. Whenever the teen had a nightmare, Ryuk would be there to stroke his hair and comfort him. If Raito was too afraid to go outside alone, Ryuk would be the one to accompany him. After the brunette's physical strength had returned, it had been the male shinigami that had trained him to use his scythe and had gone along with him on his first hunt.

For most shinigami, taking care of a human would be a horrid, terrible thing. Ryuk, however, had felt sorry for the poor teen, an emotion that he didn't often experience. He'd known about Takeshi's plans long before they'd occurred and he'd been there when it happened, but he'd done nothing to stop it. As he watched Takeshi abuse Raito in that way, something inside Ryuk had broken. Realizing how much damage his source of amusement had done, the shinigami had taken a silent vow to protect his only living victim as well as he could.

Spurned by the memory, Ryuk reached under the floorboards, grabbing the scythe that lay in the cubby underneath. He pulled it up and through the wood, setting the weapon on his lap. The blade was at least three and a half feet long and sharp. A death god's weapon, after all, never dulled. It was used for cutting the invisible walls that separated life from death, after all, not flesh. The scythe's handle was about a two feet longer than the blade and made of dark wood. It was smooth, free of splinters.

Standing Ryuk floated out of the house, the scythe in hand. He quickly made his way through the streets, searching for the task force's headquarters. When he found it, he snuck into the room that Raito shared with L and placed the invisible scythe under the bed. Satisfied, he left the room to find the brunette teen.

"Death comes swift to those who are lucky. Death waits for those who are lucky," he read aloud, his eyes traveling down to Raito.

The teen didn't move, his gaze fixed on the TV screen.

"The worst is yet to come," he sighed.

Kneeling down behind the brunette, Ryuk wrapped his arms around Raito's neck, laying his chin on the top of the teen's head.

* * *

Misa had never felt so proud of herself. She skipped down the street, the cross necklace bouncing on her chest. The chains that were attached to the belt loops of her plaid skirt clanked and jingled as she made her way towards the meeting place. Her pigtails flew up in the air with each step, hitting her shoulders only momentarily before being thrown up again. She kept her pink cellphone held up to her ear so that she could easily talk to Rem, who floated along behind her. The shinigami looked somewhat worried as she gazed at the owner of Gelus's Death Note

"Misa-chan, are you sure that sending that tape was the best decision?" the female shinigami asked.

"Of course," Misa laughed, glancing back at her shinigami. "Anything Kira-sama asks for, Misa-Misa will do."

"But Misa-chan, that tape had nothing to do with you," Rem replied.

"It doesn't matter," Misa spat, suddenly growing angry before repeating, "If he asks, then Misa-Misa will do."

"Misa-chan, I-"

Spotting Takeshi up ahead, Misa gave a shout of excitement and dashed towards him. Rem followed her, sighing softly.

"Misa-chan," Takeshi said as he saw her approaching.

"Takeshi-kun!" Mira squealed, embracing the teen. "I did everything you asked."

"Including the quote at the end?" Takeshi asked.

Misa nodded as she pulled back from her idol. She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels like a child.

"Are you proud of me?" she asked.

"Very," Takeshi laughed, patting her on the head.

Grinning widely, Misa hugged the taller man again, jumping up and down with excitement. Behind her, Rem gave Takeshi a cautious glance. When the red eyes raised to meet her's, she looked away.

"So, Misa-chan," Takeshi continued, "Do you want to know the next part of our plan?"

The actress nodded wildly, her excitement growing. Takeshi motioned for her to follow him. He led her down the street, heading for the subway. They bought two tickets and got on, the shinigami riding beside them.

Pointing to the map that was plastered above the subway windows, Takeshi said, "We'll stop there."

"Isn't that a bad part of town?" Rem asked.

Both Misa and Takeshi ignored her, too busy wrapped up in the excitement of the plan to bother. The shinigami sighed and crossed her legs under her, floating in midair.

At the right stop, the two humans got off, racing through the dirty terminal. A homeless man called out him, but the two Kiras ignored him. Rem shot him a sympathetic glance as she floated past. Giggling, Misa skipped up the stairs to the street, beating Takeshi there. As she looked around, her grin grew wider.

"What are we going to do here, Kira-sama?" Misa asked.

"Do you see that building over there?"

Takeshi pointed to one of the half-built apartment complexes that were down the street. Misa nodded.

"That will be where it will all be fulfilled."

"Where what will be fulfilled?"

"My greatest dream."

* * *

Ryuk is kind of an older brother/father figure for Raito in this story. He is probably a lot more like Gelus than the original Ryuk, but I like him this way.

(1): by the way, the "daren't" isn't a typo. That is the actual quote. Bjorn Borg is Swedish.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Have you found anything?" L asked, glancing over at the group of three men assembled on the couch opposite his armchair.

The three men looked up at him and frowned, glaring fiercely. Their annoyance with the detective was clear as one of them, an elderly man with stark white hair, opened his mouth to speak.

"We've only been looking at this for an hour. We need more time than that," he spat, gritting his teeth.

In his chair next to L's, Raito sighed inwardly. It had been a week since they had received the video and, ever since then, the entire task force had focused on the contents of the tapes. The first few days had been absolute hell for Raito. Apart from the stress of searching for the connection that the Borg Bjorn quote had to Kira, his nightmares hadn't given him any reprieve. On the first night following the arrival of the tape Raito had fallen out of bed silently screaming and he had been too afraid to fall asleep again. There were too many officers around, too many people who knew his father. If they found out about his nightmares, questions would be asked. Eventually, the news of Raito's nightmares would reach his father's ears.

He had managed to avoid having his family discover the terror that his dreams caused with the help of Ryuk and the wonders of nearly soundproof walls. That was the way he wanted to keep it. L finding out had been an accident and it was one that he wasn't going to repeat.

After a few days, Chief Yagami decided that they needed to step up the investigation. To Raito's relief, L hadn't been given a chance to look any further into the texts detailing the Death Note, but much to his chagrin his father had brought in even more people. They were specialists mostly, practiced in decoding military messages and complex ciphers from other famous serial killers. Even one of the investigators from the infamous Zodiac case in San Francisco was called in. Now, several days later, none of them had found anything.

Raito studied the three men in front of him. They were all much older than he and L, their average age being around sixty. The white-haired man seemed to be in charge of the threesome, while the other two –who both had dark hair flecked with gray- diligently followed his lead. They were masters of cracking mathematical codes and one of the last ditch efforts on the part of the taskforce.

"Could it be that each letter correlates to its number in the alphabet?" one of the old men asked.

"But then what is the order? There doesn't seem to be a specific pattern arising," another one whispered back.

"What if the number of letters themselves in each word is what we're looking for," the third said.

'They're not going to get anywhere,' Raito thought. 'If Takeshi sent these, he wouldn't have come up with anything that complex. He never was into mathematics.'

Gritting his teeth, he slowly stood up from his seat, pulling at the front of his sweaty shirt. He could feel L's gaze on him as he left the living room, practically dodging around the people that filled the apartment. Suddenly, a lump formed in his throat as he brushed shoulders with another investigator. He tried to swallow it, but his attempt only made the walls look like they were closing in on him. There was too many people, too little space. The air was too hot and stuffy, choking him. Forcing his fear down, he reached the bedroom and closed the door.

Remembering that L was probably watching him, Raito walked over to the dresser and pulled out a clean shirt. He held it up and examined the cloth, running one hand over the smooth cotton. As he started to turn so his back was to the dresser, he stopped and frowned.

'L already knows about the scar. There's no reason in hiding it,' Raito thought. 'Then again, you never know who is looking at the screen. It's best to be safe."

He completed his turn before pulling off the sweat-covered t-shirt he had been wearing. Leaning back against the dresser, he let his head fall back. His neck cracked loudly as his skin breathed in the cool air of the dark bedroom. When his neck was fully extended, the skin taut against the muscles, he took a slow, deep breath. The cold air ran through his mouth, down his esophagus, and into his lungs. He winced at the slight pain that ran down the walls of his lungs as the air filled them. When they were full to the brink, he slowly exhaled, the now hot wind brushing back up his esophagus and out his mouth. He repeated the action until his entire body was cool and the sweat had melted away.

"Raito-kun!" L called from somewhere beyond the door. "Raito-kun!"

Throwing his shirt on, the brunette rushed out into the hall. At the entrance to the living room, he found a wall of bodies drenched in sweat. Grimacing, he pushed his way through, the close proximity of so many people causing his feeling of claustrophobia to rise again. L sat on the floor in the center of the crowd of investigators, crouched closely to the TV. He held up a black VCR tape and waved it slightly.

"We have another one," he said, his face emotionless.

Raito quickly took a seat next to L as the black-haired detective put in the tape. It started the same as the other with a black screen and thin lines of static moving up and down. Suddenly, words seemed to melt onto the screen, reading: Figured the first step out yet? No? Well, here's another clue.

As soon as the first few sentences disappeared, another replaced them.

"It's in English," one of the investigators behind them said in surprise.

"The color red, of blood: sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay," Raito read aloud with a slight British accent.

"What the fuck does that mean?" another officer asked.

"It's from Robert Browning's _Home-Thoughts, from the Sea_," L replied quietly. "Sh! There's possibly more."

The quote slowly faded away into the black darkness of the screen. Not a moment later, another string of words faded in, making everyone in the room murmur. They were the same as the previous tape, cryptic to all except Raito: Death comes swift to those who are lucky. Death waits for those who are lucky.

Raito's heart stilled for a moment. When the words had appeared at the end of the first tape, he'd assumed it had been added because of Ryuk's position as the shinigami of Takeshi's Death Note. Now though, he knew better.

'Takeshi knows that I'm a human shinigami,' he thought, reaching forward to trace the words with his finger. 'These tapes aren't for L or the task force. They're for me. He's trying to contact me.'

"Have you ever read Robert Browning, Raito-kun?" L asked suddenly.

Shocked out of his thoughts by the deep voice, Raito turned to the dark detective and shook his head.

"No," he lied.

Ever since middle school, both he and Takeshi had been driven to become fluent in English. It was their own special goal, something that went beyond the basic classwork and bonded them together as best friends. They'd spent hours studying books and studying until both of them were able to speak the language as well as anyone born and raised in Britain. In their studies, they'd come across the works of Robert Browning after a teacher had noticed their drive and gave them a copy of one of his books. _Home-Thoughts, from the Sea_ had quickly become Raito's favorite of the poems and he'd read and reread it more times than he could count.

"He's a marvelous poet," L continued, "Considered one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era."

"What then is the connection between quotes from a poet and a tennis player? They're not the same nationality. They don't seem to have any interests in common. They aren't even from the same era. Bjorn Borg is still alive and this Robert Browning has probably been buried in the ground for over a hundred years," another investigator piped up.

"Give us more time to look at the numbers and perhaps we'll come up with an answer," one of the mathematicians growled.

'If they do find anything, it's going to be nothing substantial,' Raito thought as he grabbed the clicker and rewound the tape.

"Maybe it's not the quotes themselves that are important, but rather the personal significance," L murmured, biting his thumbnail. "Things like sports and literature are taken very personally in my experience, especially poetry. With sports, people cling to their favorites, going so far to wear fake replicas of their jerseys so that everyone knows whom they support. Poetry is considered one of the most expressive and free forms of literature as well as being one of the oldest forms of story telling. Some of the most well known stories in the entire world are told in poem form: Shakespeare, the Odyssey. I think that Kira is trying to tell us something about himself."

'Shit, he's getting closer. I have to get him off track,' Raito spat inwardly.

"What do you think, Raito-kun?"

"Um, well, I agree partially with you, Ryuuzaki-san," the brunette said. "Perhaps there is a personal meaning behind these quotes, but I still think that there is a larger secret hidden in them."

Raito could feel L's wide stare on him and he pushed his nervousness away. He kept his face completely emotionless, not daring to give away anything.

"Really? I don't think we have any real need for these experts. We should focus on the personal aspect," L replied.

'Just shut the fuck up, Ryuuzaki. Takeshi will fall to my scythe first,' Raito bitterly thought.

"We have to exhaust all possibilities, Ryuuzaki-san!" one of the mathematicians protested.

"Yagami-kun is right, Ryuuzaki-san," an officer said. "There could be more than one purpose for these quotes."

"Fine. You are free to pursue this hidden code idea," L said, almost sighing.

'He knows that there is none,' Raito thought. 'I can hear it in his voice. I need to work faster. He's closing in.'

* * *

When he reached the apartment that was headquarters for the task force that night, Ryuk noticed that it was vastly different from how he'd left it the week before. Despite the time of night, there were people everywhere. Some were whispering in groups as they poured over piles of papers. Others were sitting on the floor, laptops open as they types fiercely. If Ryuk had been the kind of shinigami that he was a year ago, he would have laughed at their attempts to pin down Kira. Now, he stared at them with pity.

Spotting Raito standing next to one of the walls, Ryuk floated over to him. The brunette teen was engaged in a fierce conversation with the dark-haired man that he called 'Ryuuzaki'. Noticing the giant sheet of paper that was taped to the wall between them, Ryuk leaned in closely to examine it. It was a well-organized diagram detailing the major events of the Kira case: the deaths, the tapes sent to Sakura TV, the videos sent to the police station. Ryuk recognized it clearly as Raito's handwriting and, at the center of it all was a large circle. Inside of it, five questions had been written.

Who? What? Why? Where?

Glancing down at the teenager, Ryuk reached out and lightly kicked the boy's back, his customary greeting. The brunette ignored him, but quickly pointed to the circle at the center of the paper, his finger landing on the first word. He kept his gaze fixed on Ryuuzaki as he quickly slid his finger down the page, stopping it for only a slight moment at the final word.

Ryuk chuckled at the boy's cleverness. The kid was trying to talk to him without alerting the others, especially the omnipresent L. However, when he opened his mouth to reply, Raito's hand shot up, only the pointer finger extended. To anyone else, it would have appeared as though he was just using hand gestures to accentuate a point or someone he'd said. To Ryuk, though, it was the sign to be silent. He watched as the same finger tapped the paper, pointing to the direction of the wall.

Following his ward's lead, Ryuk floated into the kitchen, the only room that was in the direction that Raito pointed. He looked around and spotted a pad of sticky notes sitting on the counter in the corner. Smiling, he found a small pen and a small pile of other sticky notes next to it. Glancing up, his smile grew wider when he realized that he was directly under one of the almost invisible cameras. He was in its blind spot.

Looking around to make sure that the kitchen was clear, he picked up the pen and quickly wrote something on it. Recapping the pen, he silently set it down and just as quietly tore the sticky note from the block of them on which it lay. He reached out and picked up the small pile of used notes and stuck his onto the back before plastering them down onto the counter again.

Satisfied, he made his way back to the living room. Raito and L had moved away from the paper that hung on the wall and were now seated on the floor. Ryuk took up residence on the arm of the chair behind Raito, watching the brunette teen as he worked.

* * *

A/N: So sorry that its taken me so long to update. I know that a week isn't all that long to wait since they usually seem to be so erratic, but for me, who used to post every day, I'm WAY behind schedule. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter cause I did. I got to be a little sneaky


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Raito was more anxious than he'd ever been before. He'd never been one for nervousness, preferring to take things calmly and logically. However, ever since he'd found the note from Ryuk with Takeshi's location on it, Raito had been ready to jump out of his skin. He tried his hardest to keep it hidden, but it was painfully obvious that L knew something was up. The detective was staring at him more now than ever and the emotionless glint to them was started to unnerve him.

Two more tapes has unceremoniously arrived that morning, a break from the weekly pattern of the previous two. Just like their older counter parts, they bore a simple phrase, followed by the shinigami's chant. The first was a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, another favorite of Raito's. It was the second tape, however, that unnerved Raito. It has been a single word: beloved.

No one had called Raito that other than Takeshi when the bastard had raped him. If he had ever had a moment of doubt that it was his former best friend who was sending the tapes, the final one would have eliminated it entirely.

_My beloved Raito-kun._

Raito shivered slightly, shaking his head to get the haunting voice out of his mind. He hated having to think about Takeshi as more than the next victim for his scythe. His death would be quick and painless, which most would think of, as the opposite of what Raito would want. Yet, ever the practical one, Raito just wanted Takeshi gone.

Sighing, he glanced down at the paper in his hand, the hated word written across it. He growled to himself in anger and tossed it in a pile with the others. Flopping onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling, hands folded over his stomach.

He wanted to be out on the streets, scythe strapped to his back, not stuck in some hotel room, listening to damn mathematicians claim that there is a hidden mathematical solution to everything. However, he knew that L would never let him out of his sight, especially with the investigation at the point it was at. Since the delivery of the tapes, everyone had been full of energy that Raito had never seen from them before. They all believed that they were so close to finding Kira and bringing him to justice.

'He'll be dead by the time they get to him', Raito thought smugly. 'Only I know where he is and I'll definitely get there before any of them.'

Feeling L's gaze on him, Raito sat up and walked over to the giant poster they'd stapled to the wall over three days earlier. He ran his fingers down the paper, feeling the soft texture. He needed to get out of there. The tension was only building, not dissipating. He needed to hunt.

Huffing in annoyance, he strode back over to his sitting place on the floor and plopped down amid the piles of papers. He reached out for the photos of the sayings when the phone rang. Ignoring the loud ringing, Raito laid the papers out on the floor, examining them closely.

"Yagami-kun, it's for you," one of the officers called.

With a frown, Raito stood and walked over to the phone. Taking the receiver, he held it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Nii-san, is that you?" a cheerful voice asked from the other end of the line.

"Sayu?" Raito asked stupidly.

"Of course its me!" Sayu laughed. "I'm waiting downstairs."

"Why?"

"Mother wants you to come home for a little while so she asked me to come get you," Sayu replied.

"She could have just called herself," Raito sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Inside, he was elated. He would walk Sayu back to the house, do whatever his mother asked, and sneak away to the address Ryuk had given him. Even better, L would be none the wiser. Whether or not they actually discovered Takeshi to be Kira wouldn't matter to Raito anymore. He'd be free of the monster and that was all that mattered.

"Nope, she said specifically that I had to come get you," Sayu cried.

"Alright, alright. I'll be downstairs in a moment," Raito said as he hung up.

"Who was that?" L asked, glancing up from his laptop.

"My sister," Raito explained as he gathered up a few papers, stuffing them into a long forgotten folder. "My mother wants me home for something, but who knows what. Do you mind if I take a few of these to study? I don't want to fall behind just because I'm not here."

"No problem! Nana made another set of copies," one of the officers shouted.

"Perfect."

"How long will you be gone?" L asked, stuffing a doughnut into his mouth.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it'll be more than a few hours. My mother probably just wants me to help her move something," Raito groaned.

"Take one of the officers with you," L said.

"I'll be with my sister, L. There's no reason to worry about me wandering off with evidence," Raito laughed.

L was about to say something further when one of the mathematicians called him from the kitchen. Rolling his eyes, L trotted towards the door, trying to drown out their yells. Raito smiled a little before he rushed towards the bedroom to grab his athletic bag.

This was the perfect moment. Stuffing the notes in his bag, he quickly squatted down and grabbed the scythe that lay under the bed. Pulling it out, he slipped the leather case that held it over his shoulder at the same time as his athletic bag, hoping to hide any evidence of its existence from the watchful L. Exiting the bedroom, he made his way to the front door and slipped out into the hall.

He had actually forgotten what the hallway looked like. After being stuck in a room of pastels and white for almost three weeks, the bright red of the carpet was a welcome sight. Raito practically jogged to the stairs, skipping the elevator all together. It would be too slow in getting there. L could find out that he'd left without an escort in that time and come after him. Besides, the excitement that rushed through him would have made it impossible to stand still for that long.

Taking the steps two at a time, Raito made it to the main floor in no time. Rushing out the door, he jogged through the lobby, finding Sayu waiting near the front desk. They smiled at each other before quickly leaving the hotel.

"It's good to see you, nii-san," Sayu laughed as they walked down the street.

"And you, Sayu. How has Mother been?" Raito asked.

"Oh fine. She has been-"

Raito only half listen to his sister's stories as they made their way home. His mind kept wandering to his true task and the real reason for his excitement. He couldn't wait to hop the subway, find Takeshi, and end his miserable life.

When they arrived home, their mother was waiting with a new couch in the front garden of their house. She almost looked ready to cry when Raito and Sayu appeared. After a series of frantic 'thank yous', she allowed her son to help her lift the couch and carry it into the house. The job finished, Raito stayed for another half hour to talk to his mother before he gave the quick excuse that he was expected back at Headquarters.

The moment that Raito stepped outside, he felt elated. He'd left his athletic bag inside, telling his mother and sister that it had nothing of importance inside, just a few pieces of dirty that needed to be washed. Knowing his mother, she would empty the clothes and leave the file inside alone. As a police officer's wife, she could easily recognize the official stamps on the front that marked it as the homicide department's property and leave it alone.

L was staring out the window, his face expressionless, but inside, he was fuming. Raito has escaped from his careful watch and, almost as important, L had been stupid enough to let him do it. As soon as he'd noticed that Raito was gone, he'd sent one of the officers after him, but the brunette had disappeared. They'd tried to call the Yagami house and no one had answered. That had been over almost two hours ago.

The hotel room was quieter than it had been in days. L had finally sent all of the 'experts' away, claiming them to be useless and he'd even kicked out most of the police force that had been practically camping there since the first tape had arrived. Normally, the noise didn't bother L, but, with Raito's sudden disappearance, being around so many people had just started to annoy the great detective.

Mentally sighing, he made his way into the kitchen to find something to eat. He pulled open the fridge and found a single slice of pie sitting on a cooled plate on the top shelf. It had been wrapped carefully in cellophane, the essence of perfection. Even the two cuts that had cleaved this piece from its entirety were neat and straight.

Taking out the piece of pie, L set it on the counter and closed the refrigerator door. He leaned against the counter, examining the piece of pie. While he was tempted to just start eating it, he couldn't help, but stare at the absolute perfection of how the piece was presented.

'Normally, no one would go through this much trouble unless they cared deeply about who it was for,' the detective thought, 'But he may also be trying to trick me, lull me into a false sense of security. Kira is quite the trickster, after all.'

Suddenly, the familiar ring of a phone cut through the silence. L glanced over at the phone that sat on the counter in the corner, his eyes focusing the blinking red light on the consol. His gaze traveled down to the buttons, the numbers and letters that were so dark against the white plastic of the phone.

Jerking up, L ran into the living room, grabbing the folder that contained pictures of the messages from Kira. Rushing back into the kitchen, he threw the folder down on the counter and pulled the phone close. He spread out the photos on the surface in front of him and, grabbing a pen that sat forgotten on the counter, he started to add. It took him a few tries, but eventually he found the pattern.

'I is 4, plus 9 for Y, 2 for A,' he thought frantically as he scribbled quickly across the pages.

When he had his total, he looked back to the phone and found the number to match.

'55 is 5, 41 is 4, 74 is 7, and 2 is, well, 2. That spells K-I-'

Quickly, he grabbed the phone before it could finish its last and final ring.

"Hello?" he asked frantically.

"Ryuuzaki-san, is something wrong?" Chief Yagami asked from the other end.

"I just figured out Kira's hidden message," he cried in a very uncharacteristic way.

"Really? What does it say?" the older Yagami asked.

L glanced down at the photos, which were now covered in black ink.

"Nothing. The code spells his name: Kira. It was all a game to keep us busy," he murmured.

"Are you sure?" Chief Yagami asked.

"100 percent, sir. I need to go through Raito's bedroom!"

"Raito's? Why?"

"I think we'll find something important there. It's just a hunch, but I feel that it is vital."

"If you think it is that important, but you'll have to call him for permission. I'm sure he won't have a problem with it."

"Thank you Chief Yagami."

Without waiting to hear an answer, L hung up and scrambled to grab the pile of sticky notes that sat next to the phone's original resting place. Rifling through them, he found the number for the Yagami house and quickly dialed it.

"Mrs. Yagami?" he cried when a feminine voice answered.

"Yes, who is this?" Raito's mom asked.

"My name is Ryuuzaki. I work with your husband and son. I need to talk to Raito," L said as fast as he could.

"Raito left over an hour ago. He said he was going straight back to the station," Mrs. Yagami said.

"We need to examine Raito's room. I'll be there in half an hour!" L shouted as he slammed the receiver down.

He was about to dial Watari's cellphone number when something caught his attention. Frowning, he reached into the pile of sticky notes and held it up. The writing on it looked unfamiliar. It was jagged and messy, completely unlike Raito's perfect script. The address that was written out was also unknown to L, a feat considering that he knew the addresses of every officer on the force, even those he hadn't worked with.

Picking up the phone, L called Watari, listening carefully to the ringing on the other end.

"Kira is on the move. Raito is missing. We need to get to the Yagami house as quickly as possible and see what we can find," L said calmly. "I'll be downstairs in two minutes. Have a car ready."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Raito's room had been torn apart. The sheets had been torn from the bed and lay in a heap on the floor. His clothing was strewn next to the pile of white sheets, wrinkled. Every paper or notebook had been pulled out of the desk drawers, which lay open to the world. The few family pictures that hung on the wall had been removed and the backs opened for the officers' watchful eyes. Even the books on the shelves had been removed and, currently, L was squatting on the floor, rifling through each one while the rest of his team went through the rest of the room.

As soon as he'd seen the collection of books and magazines, L had jumped at the chance to find the connection between Kira and Raito. First, he had gone through the magazines and found exactly what he was looking for: several old tennis magazines featuring interviews with Bjorn Borg. Then came a copy of Robert Browning's _Home-Thoughts from Abroad_, followed by a large assortment of Shakespeare plays, including _Hamlet_.

It was the last clue, however, that had L stumped. He could find nothing that related at all to that single word: beloved. There was nothing in the books, the magazines, the notebooks, absolutely nothing. Even in the pictures, none of them featured anyone that could have been a friend. The only person in the photos that was near Raito's age was the young girl that he recognized as the boy's sister, Sayu.

"Find anything yet?" L asked one of the other officers.

"No, Ryuuzaki-san, but we're still looking," the man replied.

"Perhaps if we knew what we were looking for-" Chief Yagami snorted.

"-You will just have to believe me, Sir, when I say that there is something in this house that will lead us to Kira," L interrupted.

"Are you seriously considering my son a suspect?" Chief Yagami asked, the volume of his voice rising.

"No, Sir, not really," L lied.

"Not really doesn't cut it, Ryuuzaki-san! You either are or you aren't!"

"Chief, please calm down. I need to investigate every possibility so if you wouldn't mind, please go downstairs and help the men down there," L said calmly.

With a loud snort, Mr. Yagami stormed out of the room. L watched him leave, his eyes completely void of emotion. He understood the man's apprehension, but his personal ties were getting in the way. He needed to be subjective, as all cops aught to be, but he wasn't.

Tapping his chin in thought, L glanced down at the books around him. What was that missing piece? Surely it was missing, unless he just hadn't noticed it. Setting his jaw with determination, L grabbed a copy of the _Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_ and started to rifle through it again.

Finding nothing, once again, he set it down and slipped out of the room. Ignoring the officers that traipsed by, L made his way down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. Suddenly, he stopped halfway down the stairs. He slowly turned, his wide eyes falling on the pictures that lined the wall. They were mostly of the family, photos from formal occasions.

There was one though, that was of Raito and another boy around the same age. Both were dressed in the same school uniform: dress pants, white button-up shirt, and a black blazer. Sewn onto the pocket of the blazer was a stag set onto a crest, with two swords crossed behind it. Raito was standing with his back straight, hands at his sides. The other boy was leaning on his left leg, closer to Raito, with his right hand stuck in his pocket. His black hair was cut shorter than Raito's and his dark eyes were flecked with gold.

"Yagami-san?" L called out, his eyes never straying from the picture.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki-san?" Raito's mother replied as she came out of the living room.

"Who is this?" L asked.

"Oh, that is Takeshi-kun, a close friend of Raito's," Mrs. Yagami laughed. "They've have been close ever since they were kids. Takeshi used to follow Raito around everywhere like he was some sort of god. They were adorable together."

"They went to the same high school?" L wondered, his senses burning.

"Yes. Top two students in their class," Mrs. Yagami said.

"Huh. Have you seen Takeshi-kun lately?" L asked.

Mrs. Yagami frowned. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since their graduation. As far as I'm aware, Raito is still in contact with him, but he hasn't been over to the house."

Every alarm in L's head went off. Reaching up, he ran his finger over the glass that covered the photo. He recognized that look in those dark eyes, the well-hidden calculating nature that only someone with as high of intelligence as these two had could possess. It was Takeshi, not Raito, that he had been looking for.

"Do you know where Takeshi-kun lives?" L asked.

"Yes. We used to live next-door to his family before my husband got his promotion to Chief. Why?"

"We need to pay Takeshi-kun a little visit I think," L replied coldly.

He only hoped that he wasn't going to be too late.

* * *

The unfinished halls of the Eriyun High Rise were dark and empty. The walls were unfinished, made solely of slats of wood that were open to the air and elements. As he passed the naked doorframes, he would glance into each apartment. Each one was just as abandoned as the halls, having never been completed or filled with any sort life or even remnants of it.

But over the odor of mold and musk, he could smell something much more sinister. It brought a growl up in his throat as it tried to constrict to prevent the smell from entering his lungs. The foul scent burned at the tiny hairs that lined his nose, setting them on fire. His eyes were starting to water, as he grew closer to his destination.

Snarling under his breath, Raito tightened his grip on the staff of his scythe. Slowly, he started to rock it back and forth in his hand, letting it gradually swing until he was twirling it in his fingers. _Whosh_. _Whosh_. The invisible metal whirled as it spun, cutting through the air with vast strokes.

As he neared the end of the hall, the strokes became faster and more frantic. His eyes narrowed on the single door that stood on the far wall, worn and faded. With each step he took, it creaked open, inch-by-inch. On the other side was the red-eyed menace.

"Welcome to paradise, Beloved Raito," Takeshi said, smiling sweetly.

Raito's brown eyes drifted closed. In the darkness, he saw what needed to be done and the swings of his scythe became faster, more frantic. He could hear Takeshi's cold chuckling, but he ignored it, fighting to calm his aching heart. The roar of death overwhelmed him, drowning out his former friend's voice.

"It's time for you to die, Takeshi," Raito murmured, slowly opening his eyes.

The red-eyed fiend smirked and shook his head. He stood up from the folding metal chair he'd been sitting on, crossing his arms over his chest. His entire weight was focused on one leg, giving him a defiant stance.

"Really? Because I don't think so, Beloved," he purred.

"Stop calling me that," the brunette hissed, the scythe still rotating frantically in his hand.

Spreading his arms out wide, Takeshi motioned with his hands for Raito to come towards him.

"Come on, lovely. There's no reason to be so snippy. You belong with me," he said.

Raito nearly cringed. The voice was so sweet in a sickly way. It grated on his ear drums, the vibrations pounding on the inside of his skull.

"No I don't. You fucking betrayed me," Raito snapped.

"What betrayal?" Takeshi cried, his arms dropping to his sides. He looked honestly hurt. "I was forced to do that, Beloved."

"You weren't the one being forced!" Raito screamed.

"Oh Lovely, what a sad state you're in," Takeshi sighed, shaking his head. "Don't worry though. This will all be over soon and we can be together, just as planned."

"Fuck that!"

Suddenly, Raito grabbed the scythe with both hands and brought it back over his left shoulder. His muscles strained, as he swung as hard as he could, the curved blade directed straight at Takeshi's neck. Takeshi grinned at him as the brunette's eyes slipped closed at the last second.

_Thud_.

Raito's eyes snapped open as the scythe hit something hard. He looked up into the dark eyes of a shinigami, her hardened hand gripping the blade of his scythe tightly. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she yanked the scythe out of his hands and threw it across the room with ease. Before Raito could move, she turned back to him, delivering a strong kick to his stomach.

Dropping to his knees, Raito coughed and hacked, trying to pull air back into his lungs. The female shinigami stalked around him angrily, snarling at him. He met her gaze and shivered.

"That wasn't a good move, Beloved," Takeshi whispered in his ear.

Eyes wide, Raito slowly glanced over his shoulder. Takeshi was kneeling behind him, just like that horrid day a year earlier, the day that had brought Raito's world crashing down. The smirk returned as Takeshi grabbed his former friend's throat harshly, dragging him back against him. Raito thrashed around, trying to get free, but Takeshi's grip was too strong.

"How about some entertainment, Beloved?" Takeshi asked, pulling the black Death Note from his pocket. He held it up for Raito to read the golden words on the cover. "Let's watch the world burn."

Raito, who had always considered himself to be a strong young man, whimpered pitifully. He knew that there was no going back now for he knew Takeshi, or at least he thought he did. The stubborn streak that his friend had always possessed was still there, even in a situation like this. No one was safe.

His brown eyes closed as he was pulled up and led over to the folding chair. He let himself be pushed into it and pushed his knees together, hands clasped in his lap. Takeshi's hands rested on his shoulders, gripping them tightly. His breath flowed carelessly over Raito's right ear, the sickening heat making him shudder.

"Open your eyes, Beloved," Takeshi murmured. "Don't be scared. In the end, it will be just you and me with no one to bother us."

With an aching heart, Raito opened his eyes, the lids heavy with sadness. While he knew that no one would rescue him, he couldn't help but wonder if someone at least knew he was gone.

'Please,' he silently pleaded to the silence. 'Please let L notice.'

"Death comes swift to those who are lucky," he heard the female shinigami say.

'Death waits for those who are lucky,' Raito silently finished.

* * *

This one was really difficult to write and I have no idea why. Perhaps its because Takeshi is just SO DIFFICULT! GAH! Why did I do that to myself?


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

L and his officers had ransacked Takeshi's entire apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Inoue had been shuffled out long ago to be taken back to headquarters for questioning, leaving the team all the time in the world to search every nook and cranny of the apartment. Unlike Raito's room, the connection between them was more than apparent in Takeshi's. They found books of the same name and edition as Raito's, pictures that featured both of them, and even rough drafts of essays that they had edited together. Takeshi, it seemed, kept everything that Raito had even touched, as though he was some holy man or god.

This was only strengthened when they found a notebook hidden in the folds of his dirty laundry. It looked like any other normal composition notebook with its black and white cover and college-ruled lines. When they flipped it open, however, they found something completely different. It was filled with notes and entries detailing the teen's obsession with Raito Yagami and his fervent 'love' for the brunet. The words that were scribbled on those pages were filled with jealousy and fanatical fantasies of a destructive kind. At the end, even L was wondering if Takeshi was sane.

Half way through the notebook, L found the most disturbing of all entries. It was dated a year earlier and was comprised of three simple words: I did it!

L shivered at the implications of that one sentence. He normally wasn't one to show a physical response to an implied idea, but things were starting to click into place. He thought back to that night several weeks earlier when he'd seen the scar on Raito's back. D.N. While he had no idea what its significance was, L knew that it must have come from Takeshi. No one else, but Raito's best friend could have gotten that close to the cool brunet.

Tapping the notebook against his chin, L stared ahead at the wall. What could have Takeshi done? He was obsessed with Raito, claiming him to be his beloved, his-

Beloved?

L leapt up and raced to the pile of books that they had torn from the bookshelves. Finding the one he was looking for, he threw it open, racing to find the correct page. The line that he'd read so many times in the past week was highlighted in bright yellow ink.

"The color red, of blood: Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay," he read aloud.

Throwing the book aside, he grabbed Hamlet and flipped through it. Here and there, there were a few sentences covered in the same yellow ink, but, in the middle of a page, was the one he recognized.

"By heaven I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! I say, away! Go on!" he hissed.

"Ryuuzaki-san!" an officer cried from the other side of the room.

"Yes?" L asked, not even looking up from the book.

"I found the Bjorn Borg quote."

Slowly, L turned to glance over his shoulder at the officer. The woman had been going through a pile of photos and letters that Takeshi had stowed away in a desk drawer. In the midst of the clutter, she'd found a folded slip of paper. Holding it open, she showed what was written on it to him.

"Shit," L murmured.

"What does this mean, Ryuuzaki-san?" another officer asked.

"We need to find Takeshi and Light," L said quietly.

"What the hell do you mean?" Chief Yagami asked as he stormed into the room.

L and the other officers all looked at him with anxiousness and fear in their eyes. Walking over to the older Yagami, L handed him Takeshi's copy of Hamlet.

"The videos from Kira were not for us," he said slowly. "They were for Light."

"What?"

"Takeshi Inoue is Kira."

"That is ridiculous."

"No? He has all of the same books and highlighted all of the same lines. He had the quote by Bjorn Borg hidden in his drawer. He's obsessed with your son in a dangerously romantic way and do you know what Takeshi has nicknamed him?"

Chief Yagami frowned.

"Beloved."

"Holy shit."

The older Yagami took a seat on the bare mattress of Takeshi's bed, rubbing his forehead with his hand. He seemed to collapse in on himself.

"Do you think Raito knew?" he asked.

"I have a feeling that he did," L replied.

"That is obstruction of justice! He was on the task force with us and didn't even raise a suspicion?" an officer shouted.

"I think that Light had personal reasons for not telling us," L explained. "First, Takeshi is –or was- his best friend. Two, I think he's seeking revenge. Takeshi obviously did something to him and Light knows that if we catch him first, Takeshi would be put in a position where Light would never again have access to him. Light is smart, analytical. He knows exactly what he is doing."

"How the hell are we going to find them? They could be anywhere!" Chief Yagami said.

"I found an address on the kitchen counter back at headquarters. It is the address of an unfinished apartment complex called the Eriyun High Rise," L said, pulling the slip of paper from his pocket. "In his journal, Takeshi also makes several references to this same high rise. It's best that we start there."

"Beloved, I don't know why you are so upset," Takeshi sighed, tightening his grip around Raito's shoulders. "We will rule the world soon. Aren't you excited about that?"

"No," Raito spat in reply.

"Oh, come on my Beloved. You've always wanted to be powerful. You told me so yourself," Takeshi whined.

"When the hell was that?" Raito asked.

"Our second year of high school. We did that project for Umiko-sensei about war criminals facing prosecution in the World Court. You told me that you wanted to be so powerful that you could take out all of those wretched criminals," Takeshi purred.

"Is that why you took the Death Note?" Raito asked.

Takeshi laughed. "Of course, Beloved. I'd do anything to make you happy."

"Then give me back my scythe and let me cut your fucking soul's throat with it," Raito snarled.

"My my my, what happened to the quiet submissive Raito that was here just a moment ago?" Takeshi sighed. "Ah well, there is nothing to worry about. It'll all be over soon."

"Yeah, your life will," Raito hissed.

Takeshi laughed again and Raito nearly cringed. It was maniacal, but joyful, a strange combination that made Raito's skin crawl. The light air that it carried wormed its way into his ears, making even the core of his soul shake.

"We will become the rulers of the world, my beloved Raito," Takeshi said, running his fingers through Raito's hair. "There will be no crime for all of the criminals will be dead. Everyone will bow to us as the sovereign leaders of the world and you will be with me forever."

"Sounds like fucking hell."

Walking around the chair to face Raito, Takeshi stared down at his ex-best friend. Raito met his gaze defiantly, his teeth clenched. Suddenly, Takeshi lashed out and slapped Raito across the face. As the brunet recovered, the larger Takeshi dragged him out of the chair and up against the wall, trapped between it and the other teen's body.

"Come on, lovely, play nice," he cooed as he nuzzled Raito's cheek.

His stomach churning, Raito tried to jerk his body away, but Takeshi's firm grip held. His eyes widened as he felt something hard rest against his thigh and he started to fight harder. Takeshi chuckled as he spread his former best friend's legs and nestled himself between them.

"See? There are so many more fun things we could be doing than fighting," he said, licking at the hollow of Raito's throat.

Raito was frozen in place. His mind was moving at a million miles an hour, memories of that horrible night flying through it. He didn't even notice when Takeshi started to grind against him, panting loudly. Instead, his head fell back against the wall and he stared emotionlessly up at the ceiling. When Takeshi finally moved away, Raito slid down the wall, sitting on his heels. He tipped his head forward, glaring at the grinning Takeshi. His heart was officially broken. He could nearly hear the sound of glass breaking and falling to the floor. Nothing mattered anymore, expect Takeshi's death. Even Raito's future had to take a back seat. Even L had to.

Taking a seat in the folding chair, Takeshi just smiled at him contently. Raito muttered more curses under his breath as he glanced out at the open hole where the window would have been. A slight beam of light flickered into view and he blinked. When it flickered again, he took a small breath of relief. Someone was down there.

His hope restored, Raito turned to look back at Takeshi. His former best friend had his eyes closed in post coital bliss, hands clasped behind his head. Rocking forward on the balls of his feet, Raito threw a quick glance at his scythe. It was resting up against the wall in the far corner of the room, deemed completely harmless.

"Takeshi?" Raito said slowly.

"Yes, Beloved?"

"Are you happy?"

"Yes. Why?"

Raito silently snickered, his mouth morphing into a wild grin. As Takeshi's eyes failed to open, he bolted for the scythe, dashing easily past the surprised Kira. Just as the other teen managed to leap up, Raito slid over to his scythe and grabbed it. Taking it in his hands, he whirled around, holding it parallel to the floor.

"'Cause death comes to those that are lucky. You have two choices. Die by my hand or be arrested for your crimes," he cackled, his heart and soul shattering further.

"What do you mean?" Takeshi growled.

"You have two choices! You have two choices! Death comes swift to those who are lucky! Death comes swift to those who are lucky! Charon (1) waits at his barge, silent in the dark! He waits for you, the human whose soul has been cut!" Raito started to sing in glee.

"Raito?" Takeshi murmured.

Raito's mouth widened to reveal his teeth as they sharpened into fangs. His eyes held a wild black tint that swirled like the clouds of a hurricane. Two wings, black and full of holes, appeared on his back, visible only to Takeshi's eyes. He gasped slightly as the human shinigami turned fully to face him. The wings fluttered slightly as Raito stretched them out to their full length.

"Death-"

Suddenly the sound of hurried footsteps filled the air and Takeshi looked through the open doorway to the hallway. It was police offers, armed with guns and covered in protective gear. Out front, however, was a thin, raggedly dressed man that Takeshi recognized. He snarled as he quickly glanced back at Raito. His former best friend continued to grin as he started to swing the giant Shinigami scythe again. Raito took a small step forward and Takeshi fell back one.

"Come on, Takeshi," Raito laughed. "Death comes swiftly to those that are lucky!"

As he drew the scythe back to the left, Raito's smile faded into a slightly sad stare. Takeshi met the tired gaze and a shiver ran through him. The scythe came towards him just as a pale hand reached out and barely touched the edge of the blade.

"Light-kun!"

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**A/N: OH DRAMA! While it may seem odd that L himself is leading the police into the building, it does have a purpose! **

**(1) An elderly man in Greek mythology to ferries dead souls to the afterlife.**


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: sorry I haven't updated any of my works in a while. College saps up a lot of energy, especially when it comes to Honors :). This will be slightly shorter than the others, but it is an important chapter. We're starting to reach the climax.

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Chapter 13

The moment L touched Raito Yagami's scythe everything changed. His eyes clouded with gray in a millisecond, only to be blown away just as quickly, leaving his sight clearer than that of a normal human. He watched Raito sail past him, gasping at the rolling forked tongue, sharp fangs, and extended wings. A single drop of blood fell from the tip of his middle finger where it had been barely cut by the once-invisible scythe.

Everything, despite the clarity, was moving so slowly. L fell back a step as Raito continued his swing, the edge coming ever so close to Takeshi's neck. The terrified teen stumbled away from his former friend as the human shinigami bore down on him with a growl of anger. Raising the scythe up, Raito brought it down in a fierce swing.

Suddenly, the world jumped back to normal speed and Takeshi dove out of the way, running for the far corner. Raito stood up straight, scythe in hand as the let loose a pained howl.

"Watch out! Yagami-kun has gone insane!" one of the officers behind L shouted as he started to run towards the brunet.

Throwing out his arm, L grabbed the man's uniform and threw him back. He made a motion for all of the officers to stay behind him, although his gaze never left Raito.

Visible to only him and Takeshi was the painfully gorgeous monstrosity that had once been Raito Yagami. The Chief's son had always been tall and toned, but as a shinigami, those two traits had only become more pronounced. He seemed to tower over them all, his head held high in a regal manner. His long legs were spread in a powerful stance and the pointed teeth were gnashed together. Darkness swirled in the brown eyes as Raito snarled and turned to his former friend. The twin wings that adorned his back fluttered slightly in the breeze that drifted down the hall, flinching out to their full six feet of length before contracting again. Raito's angry snarl morphed into a mad smirk as his giant hands tightened around the staff of the scythe.

"Raito?" L asked quietly.

The shinigami turned to him, growling low in his throat. The officers behind L took a step back, even if they couldn't see the additional changes that had been brought upon their boss's son.

"Belo-"

Raito whipped around to snap at Takeshi, who was in a defensive stance, his hands held up slightly.

"Come on Beloved, don't be like that. You just need to calm down. We're going to rule the world together, remember?"

A shiver ran through Raito's body as he recoiled slightly. Whimpering, he stalked in a small circle, hands wringing the scythe. L's eyes flicked back and forth between the two teens, unsure of what to do.

"You said you wanted power and I'm willing to give it to you. It was all for you. You know that right?" Kira laughed softly, holding his hands out to Raito.

L would have snarled at the stupid teen if Raito hadn't done it for him. Raito may have been a genius capable of world domination (and that L was sure of), he wouldn't have done it by the methods that Takeshi had. Mass death, terror, and whatever he'd done to Raito? None of that would have been possible for the Yagami son.

"Don't be stupid, Takeshi," Raito said, finally speaking. He started to pace back and forth across the length of the room, like an animal waiting to be let out of the cage. "I don't want to rule the world, no matter what you think. Am I ambitious? Hell yes, but I don't need to go around killing people by writing their name in a God damn book to do it!"

The police officers behind L exchanged confused glances. L's eyes only widened. Writing names in a book? Could it… no, the Death Books were a legend. He'd researched them himself. Every lead he'd ever gotten had come to a definitive end: they didn't exist.

"You thought you were so clever. A Death Note? The only way to really kill anyone without getting your hands dirty," Raito chuckled.

"Of course, Belo-"

"-Don't you fucking dare call me that! I'm not your boyfriend! I'm not your beloved! I'm not even your fucking friend anymore, Takeshi! Why would I want to be after what you did!" Raito screamed.

"But Raito, without that you-"

"-Would have gone on without ever knowing you 'liked' me?" Raito snarled. "I could have done without that, thanks."

"But Be-"

"-Shut the fuck up Takeshi! I don't want to hear what you fucking think! I could have lived with it if you had just told me like a normal person! But oh no! You had to do… that!"

A shiver ran up L's spine at the raw anger displayed in Raito's voice. Raito's eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at his former best friend, starting to twirl the scythe again.

"It's time for you to just fucking die!" Raito screamed as he grabbed the scythe in both hands and rushed Takeshi.

They started a frantic, wild dance of ducking, avoiding, and rapid swings. L and the others stared at the former best friends as one tried to kill the other. Finally, Raito raised the scythe for the final time and swung it as hard as he could. Suddenly, something darted past L in a flash of blond hair just as the scythe came towards Takeshi's neck.

L's mouth dropped open as he watched the blade of the scythe cut through a blond girl's neck. He waited the blood, but none came. When the girl fell between the two boys, the skin wasn't even broken.

Retreating back a few steps, Raito doubled over as if in pain. He sunk to his heels, rocking back and forth as he stared at the dead body and the scythe abandoned at his side. Grabbing his head in his hands, he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth. Takeshi was inching around the body, staring at it wide-eyed. Slowly, L crept towards Raito, motioning for the other officers to stay back.

"Raito?" he murmured as he approached the distraught teen.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! It wasn't supposed to go like this! I have never done this before," Raito started muttering to himself, his eyes snapping open.

Reaching out, L tapped the teen on the shoulder. Recoiling, the brunet leapt backwards, screaming. L, in an unusual fit of panic, grabbed Raito's arms and forced him to the floor. The fanged mouth was open in a loud yowl, the wings flapping wildly. With a well-placed kick to the stomach, L went flying back, landing hard on the floor.

"Don't move!" he shouted at the policemen who rushed to help him. "Don't move!"

Trashing up onto all fours, Raito cowered away from any of the other people in the room, his eyes focused on the dead body. Slowly, he stood up and walked over to the body, his hands shaking. Kneeling down, he lifted a small lock of blond hair and grimaced, tears dripping from his eyes.

"I- I-" he coughed, lost for words.

"Belov-"

Raito snapped into action, spinning around with a howl. He leapt at Takeshi, tackling him to the ground, his hands secure around the other teen's neck. Squeezing as tightly as he could, Raito put his face close to Takeshi's, hissing angrily.

"Look what you made me do! Look at what you've done! You just had to like my ass a little too much, you fucking asshole! I would have never been in that alley! I would have never had to meet Ryuk! I wouldn't be a fucking shinigami if it weren't for you!" he shrieked.

Slamming the other teen's head on the floor, Raito started sobbing.

"Shinigami aren't supposed to kill people unless their time has come! Death comes swift to those who are lucky! Death waits for those who are lucky!"

Carefully, L came up behind the two teens and laid his hands on Raito's shoulders. The brunet flinched away, but L kept a strong grip on the younger man. Reaching down with one hand, he pulled Raito's claws away from Takeshi's neck, holding them back against the brunet's chest. His other arm he wrapped around Raito's waist, pulling the teen up onto his feet.

"I- I didn't mean to kill her! It was an accident!" Raito sobbed.

"That's right, Raito. It was an accident. It wasn't your fault," L said quietly as the other officers rushed forward to cuff Takeshi.

"My scythe. I killed someone who wasn't supposed to die," Raito murmured to himself, eyes wide with shock.

"Ryuuzaki-san," one of the police officers called. "Kira is in custody. What would you like us to do?"

L motioned the officers away and they slipped silently from the room, the unconscious Takeshi carried between them. Raito continued to shake in L's arms, crying quietly. L continued to hold him without moving until the paramedics arrived.


	15. Chapter 14

**Haha a new update! I promised that I would be doing a mass update of all of my works soon and so here is the second part of that. We're nearing the end of this story. About one or two more chapters left! GAH! Scary! This will be the second fic I've finished. I promise to throw a little slash in there for you slash fans cause personally, I love this couple. :) OH AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW AND READ MY OTHER WORKS! I HAVE FOUR OTHERS GOING RIGHT NOW AND AS SOON AS THIS ONE IS DONE, THERE WILL BE A WHOLE NEW ONE! **

**Peace.**

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Chapter 14

L sat in an empty hospital hallway, balancing on his balls of his feet as he chewed on his thumbnail. The other officers, including Raito's father, had left not thirty minutes earlier, leaving the dark-haired man time to think in the quiet. The events that had preceded the unexpected trip to the hospital were fresh in L's mind as he replayed them over and over again, looking for whatever details he had missed.

The one thing though that stuck out in his mind more than anything else was the look on Raito's face when he'd discovered that he had accidentally killed that girl. Misa was her name, a rising star on the entertainment scene and a huge success. Raito had been shocked, appalled, and terrified, a combination that L never wanted to see again on the young man's face. Raito may have gone to the Eriyun High Rise that afternoon to kill someone, but it had been someone who, in his mind, had it coming.

Groaning under his breath, L stood up and stretched his legs. The bones creaked and cracked as he shook them out. Padding barefoot to the door closest to his seat, he stopped in front of it, staring at the closed white door. He placed his hand on the cold metal, sighing a little. His ears pricked up as the faint squeaking of a rolling cart reached his ears. Turning, he saw a nurse coming towards him, pushing said cart.

"Hello," she whispered as she passed him to park the cart in the small space between the door and the chair L had previously occupied.

He nodded a greeting in return.

"Visiting hours were over half an hour ago," she gently reminded him, sifting through the cups of medicines to find the right one.

"I was given special clearance," L murmured. "They were worried about Light-kun having a panic attack so they let me stay."

"Ah yes, the poor boy was brought in this afternoon, right? The one that just saw that model drop dead in front of him?" the nurse asked sadly as she turned to face him.

L nodded absently.

"Poor child. I heard one of the doctors discussing his case. Tragic really," the nurse sighed. "Are you his brother or something?"

"No. We're friends."

"Oh. Have the doctors given you clearance to see him?"

"No," L replied.

With a quick glance around, the nurse nodded to him. "Come on then. If the family agreed to have you stay instead of them, then I'm sure you must be important to him."

L stared after the nurse as she slipped into Raito's room with a small cup of drugs. Following her, he entered the dark room, eyes trained to the person in the bed. It was pushed up next to the window, a heart monitor beeping quietly beside it. Raito was on his side, facing the window and curled up tightly. The nurse approached the bed and gently touched the young man on the shoulder.

"Yagami-kun? Wake up."

Raito slowly turned to his opposite side, eyes wide open. L nearly sucked in a breath looking at his friend. The usually cool eyes looked wide and dead, still stuck in shock. Mechanically, the brunette sat up and took the pills and glass of water from the nurse. Throwing them all down in one large gulp, he handed the two containers back to the nurse and took to his earlier position.

"Don't keep him up too long," the nurse sighed. "He really does need his rest."

L nodded to the nurse, but didn't look at her as she left. When the door swung closed, the dark-haired man strode over to the bed silently. Sitting on the edge, L swung his legs up onto the sheets, crossing them as he looked down at the young man. Raito's gaze flicked up to him as L leaned over him. Not quite sure of what to do, L paused, jerking back when he felt a hand on his. Raito took his wrist in his hand and lifted it, setting L's hand on his russet hair. Eyes softening, L ran his fingers through the brown locks, watching as the young man's eyes closed.

"I'm really not good at this stuff," L admitted.

"It's fine," Raito murmured, his eyes still closed. "I'm not really good at receiving it."

A small smile picked at L's mouth as he continued to pet his friend's hair. They were silent for a few minutes before Raito's eyes once again opened, staring up at L.

"I didn't mean to do it," Raito whispered.

"I know," L said.

"It was an accident. I meant it for Takeshi. He was supposed to die. He had the black mark and everything," the young man said.

"The black mark?"

Raito nodded. "A black mark appears on people's necks when its time for them to die."

"And you can see it?"

"Yes. It came with my-"

He stopped, frowning.

"You can tell me, Light. I already know about those Death Books," L said.

"Death Note," Raito corrected.

"Death Note," L repeated. "You're a shinigami, aren't you?"

When he saw Raito's shocked face, he quickly explained. "I touched that scythe on accident when you were swinging it."

As a confirmation, he reached down with his free hand and caressed the wings that only he and Raito could see. A shiver ran up the young man's spine.

"After Takeshi… did what he did, a shinigami came to me. His name is Ryuk. He helped me, nursed me through my pain. In exchange, I became a human shinigami. Since I couldn't have the exact same powers as a true death god would have, I was given a special scythe."

Panic flooded his system and he sat up, grabbing the front of L's shirt. The heart monitor beeped wildly. "What happened to it? Where is my scythe?"

"Shh, Light. It's okay. I have it and it's safe."

"Where?"

"Under your bed."

Seeing the honesty in L's eyes, something that he rarely showed, Raito relaxed and fell back to the bed. Slowly, the beeping of the monitor settled back to its normal pace, but L paid little attention to it.

"What did Takeshi do to you?" L asked.

Raito stiffed for a moment.

"Promise that you won't tell anyone," he pleaded like a child.

"I promise."

Slowly, Raito's eyes drifted closed and he curled up tighter than before, flipping over to face L. He sighed softly in content as L's fingers continued to stroke through his hair, massaging the scalp.

"He, well, he… violated me."

"He raped you?" L asked calmly.

Raito nodded. "He said that he loved me and that he had to do it so that I would understand just how much he adored me. It fucking hurt though. It hurt like hell and I hated him for it. I still do. Why couldn't he have just died like I had wanted? His dark was black!"

Pulling the distraught teen into his lap, L continued to stroke his hair. Raito buried his nose in L's neck, his head fitting just under L's chin. His whole body shook, his hands running wildly up and down his arms as though he was trying to warm himself.

"I just want him to go away! I want him to die, to leave me alone. He haunts me sometimes when I'm asleep. Not even Ryuk can get rid of the nightmares. I just want him to go away!"

His heart aching in a strange way, L leaned forward slightly and placed a soft kiss to Raito's cheek. Jerking back in surprise, the brunet turned to stare at him, wide eyed. L smiled a little and leaned in again, their lips connecting. Raito's grip on his shirt tightened as he returned the kiss. It was chaste and unhurried, innocent on both ends. Neither really knew what they were doing, their instincts being the only thing that drove them.

Finally, L pulled back and Raito settled his head once again against his throat. They hugged each other tightly, neither needing to say anything. Silence filled the room as the two reveled in what they felt, offering comfort for their aching, burned hearts.

Raito opened his mouth to speak, but he was quickly cut off.

"Takeshi is going to pay for what he did. I obviously can't try him for the murders directly, as no one would ever believe that the Death Note is what caused them, but I do have enough to convict him of something else."

"What?" Raito asked, frowning.

"We found notebooks full of his obsessive rants about you. The statute of limitations on your rape may be up, but I have enough to label him a menace to society and a danger to himself and others," L replied, inwardly snickering at the idea. "He will be put away in a mental institution for the remainder of his life."

"Really?" Raito murmured.

L nodded against the brunet hair. "Your father is already drawing up the paperwork. The notebooks detailed several violent fantasies of his and not just involving you. He had a dream about attacking your high school once because a teacher gave him a bad grade on a presentation. We found bomb-making instructions printed from the Internet hidden in his room and even sketches of how the building was mapped out."

Raito shivered and L tightened his grip on the younger man's shoulders.

"And what about me?" Raito whispered.

"My guess is that the doctors won't be able to determine how Misa-chan died or how she was involved with Takeshi. We have witnesses stating that she went after you so I doubt that anyone could label you as her killer, at least in cold blood. It will be suspicious, but they'll probably consider it one of those weird things, like SIDS."

"SIDS?"

"It's a disease that kills infants. The cause is unknown."

"Ah."

"Your father will try as hard as possible to keep you out of the news. If you are drawn into questioning, you will have to give testimony."

"But I-"

"It'll be okay, Light. If it comes to that… I'll do something. Get a closed court or something."

Although it wasn't a full reassurance, Raito smiled a little and snuggled into the dark man's neck.

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki-san."

"L."

"Excuse me?"

"That's what I go by. L Lawliet."

Raito shot up, staring at the dark-haired man. His mouth opened, and then snapped shut. L laughed a little at his shock, bringing his hand that had been stroking the brown hair down to grip Raito's chin.

"Surprised?"

"Shocked," Raito laughed.

"Well, you told me your biggest secret, so I thought I'd tell mine," L said, settling back on the bed with Raito firm in his grasp.

"Are you sure you can trust me with that?" Raito teased.

"Your mind is a steel trap, Light-kun. Everything goes in and it is stuck there forever. Very rarely does anything important make it out," L said, resuming his comforting petting.

Suddenly, there was a soft tap at the window and both men looked up. L's eyes widened as he took in Ryuk's waving form as he slipped through the wall. The shinigami crouched down on the bed next to Raito, reaching out for the teen. Raito grasped his hand and smiled.

"Thank you for everything, Ryuk," Raito murmured.

"No problem kid. Takeshi, the idiot, is in custody and you're safe now," the shinigami cackled. "Hey detective, hands off my student."

Raito rolled his eyes a little at the shinigami's sarcastic bite. "Ryuk, this is… L. L, this is Ryuk, the shinigami that saved me," he said.

"Pleased to meet you," L said.

The shinigami huffed and, hearing something in the hall, turned his attention to the door on the far side of the room.

"Do you want me to stand guard, Raito?" the shinigami asked.

"That would be great, Ryuk," the brunet yawned.

With a curt nod, the shinigami lifted off from the bed, floating over to the far side of the room and through the wall. A moment later though, he poked his head back in and shouted, "Don't go too far! I don't want to hear that!"


	16. Epilogue

**A/N: GYAH! This is the end? What? When did this happen!? OH MY GOD! I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE IT! Well, anyway, thanks to all of the fans that have stuck with this story from its conception, through its chapters and to its conclusion. My sincerest thanks. JUST REMEMBER YOUR THREE "R'S" KIDS: READ, REVIEW, REPEAT (WITH MY OTHER STORIES!).**

**Peace.**

**P.S. This is the slash that you've all be waiting for. Enjoy.**

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Epilogue

An outstretched hand held a piece of paper, so innocent, so sweet, so pale. Taking by the hand of another, it was carried every so carefully across the short space before it was hoisted into the air. A third hand took it now, careful to avoid crinkling it. Holding that angelic paper upright, the face of the third hand read carefully. Its partner hand, the left, came up to the jaw, tracing it as the eyes quickly read. With a nod, the third hand returned the paper to the second before it was taken away, hidden out of sight.

"Takeshi Inoue, Mr. Eri," the judge said slowly, glancing at the young man who stood behind one of the two tables assembled before the judge's high seat, "Are you ready to hear the decision of the jury?"

Takeshi nodded once, eyes wide as the judge motioned to the twelve assembled jurors. The foreman, a short, stocky woman, stood, a second piece of innocent paper in her hands.

"In the matter of the city versus Takeshi Inoue, we, the jury, find the defendant: gui-"

The courtroom erupted in noise as the forewoman continued to speak, her words drowned out by the loud cries. In the very back of the room, aside from all of the noise, two figures sat in silence. L was his usual unsmiling self, eyes hidden behind a strange pair of black sunglasses and his legs curled up under him. Next to him sat the brunet Raito, who was grinning widely.

As soon as the defendant, now prisoner, was hauled away, the crowded courtroom flooded out into the hallway of the courthouse. People were arguing about the judgment, whether or not it was just and kind to do something to someone so young. Reporters snapped pictures of the spectators as they passed. Finally, the door closed and only the two investigators remained.

"He got what he deserved," L said, taking off the sunglasses.

"I know and I'm glad," Raito replied.

"Even if he wasn't accused of rape?" L asked.

Raito nodded, holding L's hand gently. Leaning over, he rested his head on the dark-haired man's shoulder, sighing softly. His brown eyes closed.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Raito murmured, settling against L's shoulder.

"Rape is one of those crimes that sticks with a person for the rest of their life, Raito. It isn't just… over even with Takeshi behind bars," L said.

"Yes, but it is time to put it behind me," Raito said. "I am happy now. Why should I let him ruin me forever?"

L was about to respond when he suddenly had a lap full of Raito. The younger brunet straddled his waist, cupping the investigator's face with his hands. He smiled a little at his boyfriend.

"Isn't that right?" he asked before softly kissing L.

The dark-haired man replied with enthusiasm, wrapping one hand around the back of Raito's neck. Since their first initial kiss at the hospital nearly six months before, L had gotten better at being intimate with Raito and Raito with him. The young brunet no longer jumped when he was touched, but L knew the limits as well.

Breaking the kiss, Raito sat back, staring at his boyfriend. "I want to go home."

L frowned. "Don't you want to see the media circus? You love watching people squirm in pain and fear."

"Yes, but I want you more," Raito smirked, kissing L again.

Snapping up at attention, L grabbed Raito's wrist, throwing him off his lap. Raito laughed as his boyfriend jumped up and ran out of the courtroom, dragging him along.

* * *

L and Raito fell in through the door of Raito's small apartment, kissing wildly. Kicking it closed with his foot, L pushed his brunet lover up against it, hands searching the flat plains of Raito's chest. The young man moaned, leaning his head back against the door as L attacked his neck, nipping and sucking. They grinded against each other, their groans turning into a strong and loud duet.

Ripping off Raito's shirt, L kissed at his pectorals, his tongue tracing the curve of the muscles. Raito writhed against him, his fingers burying deep in L's hair. Moving down the brunet's body, L's fingers hooked in the band of his pants, pulling on the belt. Raito grinned as L skillfully undid the belt, throwing it to the side. The younger man pushed against his lover, directing him back towards the bedroom, L losing most of his own clothes along the way.

They collapsed onto the bed in a pile, Raito on top. L slid down his body from underneath, nipping at his stomach. Raito gasped as a hand slipped into the back of his jeans, fighting its way under his boxers. He rocked forward as L grabbed his ass, humming against his warm skin.

Suddenly, his pants were gone as were those dreaded boxers, exposing him to the air. Raito yelped softly as he was encased in heat, grinding down into L's mouth. The detective licked at his tip, suckling as would a hungry baby. Raito fell onto his forearms, fighting against the strong hands that kept his hips still.

"Ah!" he moaned as L's hands grabbed at his ass again, pulling the cheeks apart.

A finger, strangely warm and wet, traced the outside of his entrance, teasing.

"What the hell are you doing, L?" he moaned, panting harshly.

Letting go of his lover's cock, L smirked up at the brunet. "Just wait and see."

Raito gritted his teeth as L's finger slipped into his hole. It didn't hurt, but it was surprising.

"Relax," L murmured, starting to slowly drive his finger in and out.

Raito was a mess by the time L had all three fingers in. His body was arched, muscles as taught as the string of a bow. His legs were spread widely, allowing his lover better access. Hot and ready, he moaned nearly incoherent words to L.

"Please!" he cried as the luscious fingers hit his sweat spot.

Yanking them out, L slid up Raito's body as he grabbed the younger man's shoulders. He pushed Raito back into a sitting position, straddling his lap once again.

"Go slowly, Raito," he whispered. "Slow and steady."

Positioning himself over L, Raito slowly sunk down. He gasped and moaned as L slid inside, rubbing against his sweat spot in the most agonizing way. When he was fully seated, Raito paused to catch his breath. L placed his hands on his lover's hips, waiting for his signal.

Raito nodded once and he was suddenly lifted off of L's lap and dropped back down. A silent scream tore from his throat as he pounded down onto his lover, all of his breath catching in his throat. Sitting up against the headboard, L set a fast pace, bucking up as he brought Raito down. Pleasure coursed through the brunet as he rode L, throwing his head back as he was filled again and again. His invisible wings were spread wide, shaking from exhaustion.

"Come on, Light-kun," L taunted in his ear.

He was quickly reaching the edge, something he'd barely felt when Takeshi had taken him. With one last hard thrust down, Raito came, his mouth wide open. As Raito's channel quickly tightened around him, L attacked his over's open mouth, rubbing their tongues together as he too fell over the edge.

Panting, Raito fell on top of L, his lover still buried inside of him. He glanced up at the dark-haired man, smiling when he saw the red face. Wrapping his arms around the back of L's neck, he nuzzled against the apex of his neck and shoulder.

"L," he moaned.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for all of this."

L smirked a little, a rare sight to be sure.

"You're welcome, my shinigami."

Raito lazily stretched out one of his fell wings, trying to loosen the tired muscles. L leaned forward a little, kissing along one bony edge.

"You're sure that you want to come with me?" he asked. "We'll have to move around a lot more after this."

Raito laughed a little, nodding. "My job isn't exactly something that keeps me tied down, L. People everywhere need a death god."

"I'm just glad that Ryuk and the other shinigami let you stay on."

"Well, they needed someone to replace Rem."

"You deffinetly know how to take advantage of a situation, don't you?"

"Of course, I do, L. I have to be quick on my feet to be your lover, don't I?"

The two men kissed, L rolling over so he was on top. Raito smiled at him, closing his eyes and reveling in the feeling of L pumping into him again. Life was finally good.


End file.
